


The (Cursed) Avatar- Book 1: Water Content

by FrogBoy0



Series: The (Cursed) Avatar [1]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, And Kuruk was the Avarar before Toph, Avatar Toph Beifong, Everyone Is Gay, F/F, Gyatso was the Airbending Avatar, He angsty, M/M, More tags to be added, Phoenix tail Zuko, So we're all on the same page, The Earth Kingdom is way too prideful, Toph is such a good therapist, this was a ton of fun to write
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-29
Updated: 2021-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-15 12:54:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 50,785
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29064660
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FrogBoy0/pseuds/FrogBoy0
Summary: Avatar Gyatso, the Airbening Avatar failed to prevent the ever blooming war 100 years ago, dying at the young age of 55Avatar Kuruk, the Waterbending Avatar failed to stop the war, spending his years away from the public, surfing and playing Pai Sho. His death came even earlier at 33The Earth Kingdom eagerly awaited their Avatar. Their spirit of the world will be different, they will be strong, they will end this war, they will be like Kyoshi.But Toph was tiny and blind.Not fit to be the Avatar and an embarrassment to the Kingdom. This only showed one thing to the world: the Avatar spirit was dwendling, weakening with every new incarnation. If those last two failures of Avatars weren't enough proof, just take a look at the current,At the Cursed Avatar._____________________Hiiiiii! This is my Avatar!Toph AU! This is book 1 of 3! I've been working hard on this since November and now it's finally done and I'm excited to share this with you!If you go on tumblr to thecursedavatar, you can find promo art that I draw that goes with every chapter!New chapters will be posted here and linked on the tumblr every Friday! Enjoy!!
Relationships: But in book 3, Katara & Sokka (Avatar), Katara & Suki (Avatar), Sokka & Suki (Avatar), Sokka/Zuko (Avatar), The Gaang (Avatar) - Relationship, Toph Beifong & Katara, Toph Beifong & Sokka, Toph Beifong & Suki, Toph Beifong/Katara
Series: The (Cursed) Avatar [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2132388
Comments: 19
Kudos: 73





	1. The Stranger

"Katara.  _ Katara! _ Hurry up, we gotta get to the boat before we waste any  _ more  _ time than we have because of  _ you!" _

"I'm coming, I'm coming! Calm down, Sokka!" 

"I will  _ not _ calm down! You ruined my whole schedule because of your  _ playtime!"  _

"It isn't  _ playtime.  _ It's Waterbending and it's-" 

"Yeah yeah, I  _ know.  _ It's  _ sacred part unique to our culture _ "

The two young siblings walked through the thick snow, making their way to the snowy shore, where they would take their canoe out into the ocean to catch fish. Sokka, the 15 year old boy, trudged ahead dragging a spear behind him as Katara, his 14 year old younger sister, followed a bit further off. 

"Tell me, Katara. If it's so  _ special  _ your magic water, then why can't I do it? Or Gran Gran? Or literally anybody else in the tribe, huh?" Now, he didn't need to be so mean but then again, he  _ was  _ the older brother. It's practically his  _ job  _ to knock his sister down a couple notches every so often, "I swear, you girls do the weirdest things and try to slap a name on it"

Katara's face flushed red with anger, "Gran Gran's wife's  _ brother  _ was a Waterbender! And I got it from  _ him!"  _

"Oh please, tell me how that makes sense. Tell me how controlling  _ water  _ can be  _ genetic!"  _ They were about 100 feet to the boat now 

"It just  _ is! _ And you're just jealous that  _ you  _ aren't a Waterbend…  _ Huh _ ?" Katara stopped mid sentence and squinted. Off to the far,  _ far  _ right in the distance was a…  _ silhouette. Two  _ silhouettes? "Sokka, I see something over there, I think it's people!" 

Sokka didn't even turn to look at his sister, "Please, I'm not falling for that trick again. Not for the fifth time" 

Katara jogged up to him and tugged on his thick coat sleeve, "No, I'm serious this time!" 

He groaned, "Katara, there isn't anyone here besides the tribe for hundreds and hundreds _ and hundreds  _ of miles" 

Growing tired of his stubbornness, she grabbed his head and jerked it in the direction where she saw it, pointing there as well, " _ Look!"  _

"HEY! Watch it-!" He stopped, spotting the dark, slowly moving shapes,  _ "...Huh..?" _

"I told you! Let's check it out, if they aren't from here, they might freeze!" Katara said, not waiting for an answer and already running towards the silhouettes 

Sokka stayed there for a moment, "Uurgggh, we were so close to the boat…  _ Katara!" _ He whined before chasing after her 

  
  
  
  


The brother and sister ran and ran for 15 minutes straight before being able to make out the figure, well,  _ figures. _ Upon closer examination, they realized that there were, in fact, two of them. One was a person and the other was… well it was something. It was huge and darkly coloured (And frankly terrifying). She guessed it was an animal?

Katara was able to reach their destination first with Sokka lagging behind (It was hard to run in a parka), " _ Katara, watch out! They could be dangerous!" _ He called out 

The Waterbender ignored him, not turning back and keeping her attention on the silhouettes, "Hello! Are you alright? Are you lost?" 

She stopped her travel when she was a couple feet away, close enough to get a good look at the person. And they were...

A  _ kid…? _

A girl with dark hair that couldn't be any older than herself, the ground underneath the snow was lifted, pushing the snow away and creating a frozen dirt path for her and the giant animal walking by her side. 

And what kind of animal was  _ that  _ anyway _?  _ It looked kinda like a Polarbear-Dog but  _ brown _ and probably as big as a  _ sky bison! _

Katara stared at the beast in awe, " _ Woah…" _

The girl then turned to face the Waterbender. She was hugging herself tightly, standing extremely close to the mysterious animal. Her teeth were chattering. 

The first thing she noticed was the pale yellow coloured strap that was slung over her left shoulder with someone attached to it on her back. 

The stranger wore a thin, green jacket that was  _ covered _ in dirt with dark pants and… no shoes-  _ is this girl fucking insane?!  _

" _ H-...Hi..." _ She said, her nose bright red

"Uh, hi..." 

Who was this girl? How did she move the snow to create a trail like that? What kind of animal was that? Was that her pet? How in the world did she get here? Is she actually fucking crazy? 

"Katara! Wait up!" Sokka cut off Katara's thoughts, running up to her, out of breath, "What… What did I say about… Talking to strangers- _ I think I'm gonna throw up" _

Sokka bent over, struggling to catch his breath. After a solid minute of that, he finally stood back up straight, only to be met face to face with the giant, seemingly tame animal before them. 

He shrieked,  _ "AACK! _ WHAT'S THAT?!" He jumped back several feet and readied his spear, shoving his sister behind him 

Katara lightly pushed Sokka to the side and hesitantly walked up to the black haired girl, "Are you… Alright?"

"O-oh yeah, just fi-fine," She gave the older girl a forced grin through chattering teeth, rubbing her arms quickly over her shoulders and pulling her jacket closer to her person, "Tell me some-something, you're real right? I'm not just hallucinating from the- from the cold?"

Katara blinked, an interesting question to ask a stranger but the cold can make you say some interesting stuff so she can't judge. She smiled a bit, "Yeah, I'm real" 

"Thank Oma and Shu, we made it" That was the last thing the girl said before abruptly passing out face first into the snow either from being so ill prepared for such low temperatures or from sheer exhaustion 

________________ 

Toph stirred a bit, beginning to feel consciousness once again. 

Holy shit, she was  _ alive _ ? Well that's a great win in and of itself, considering all the crap she had already gone through to make it…  _ uh… _

Where was she now?

_ "Why are we keeping her here?! She could be a spy for the Fire Nation!"  _

Toph stayed still and quiet, not yet opening her eyes in an effort to eavesdrop on the conversation of a slightly familiar voice.

_ "Sokka, she was unconscious. We couldn't just leave her there" _

_ "Yes we could! This could be a cover up! Maybe that's why she had such thin layers, because Firebenders can warm themselves up!"  _

Wait, that's the boy who screamed like a wild Flutterbat from before! Funny voice boy!

_ "That probably isn't why-... Wait, can Firebenders actually do that?" _

And that other one. The girl who came up to her first. Did they take her? Did she pass out? Where were they now?

_ "Probably! It makes sense!"  _

_ "Both of you, quiet down. She's starting to wake up" _

Okay, now who's that?

Toph slowly sat up, her joints felt stiff and her movements were extremely restricted. Where the  _ fuck _ was she now?

The last thing she remembered was burrowing out from the ground and walking through that horrible frozen tundra for  _ hours  _ (spirits, she hates the cold) before those two came up to her.

"I went through your stuff. Had to make sure you weren't carrying any weapons," The boy threw the small bag she had into her lap, "The only thing I could really consider there a weapon was…  _ this.."  _ He groaned and she assumed he was holding one of her things 

"You went through my stuff?" Toph opened her bag and blindly skimmed over the little that she had; frozen solid fruit, a couple of coins, and a few rocks

All was there and accounted for except she couldn't feel the comfortingly familiar weight on her back. Where's her…?

"Is that my banjo?" 

"Yes it is, and it could be considered a weapon so I'll be holding on to it!" You could hear that he toughened his voice up a bit

Jeez this guy was mean. 

She felt soft cush underneath her, was she on a futon? Toph opened her eyes (not that it did anything), and she didn't feel the biting chill of the wind anymore, they must have brought her back to where they live, inside. That was nice of them considering one of them wanted to leave her for dead and- 

Wait, 

Was she wearing  _ shoes?  _

Toph felt herself, her jacket was replaced with a thick coat that was about two sizes too big and burly, heavy boots. She lifted her leg and blinked, "Uh, why am I wearing these?" 

"You didn't have shoes on when my grandchildren found you. You're lucky you didn't have frostbite" The voice that she didn't recognize said, it sounded like an older woman. This was Funny Voice and Girl's grandma

"Uh, I appreciate it but I can't wear these" 

"No, we don't mind at all" 

"No not because of that, I  _ literally _ can't wear these. I can't see without my feet" 

She was greeted with a confused silence, Toph chuckled a little, "I'm blind and I use Earthbending to see," She explained probably for the millionth time in her young life. While she spoke, she was unlacing the boot, already trying to take them off (aw jeez, they put gloves on her too?), "But I need my feet to be bare to get a clear look at things. If they aren't, things get all fuzzy and it's harder to get around" 

A gloved hand was placed on her's as she was undoing her boot, "I understand, but you need to keep those on. Your feet will freeze off if you don't" Granny said

Didn't she hear a word she said? She  _ can't  _ keep these on! Everything is fuzzy when they are. But...

It _ is  _ a good point. Her feet wouldn't be much use for her if they froze and fell off. 

Dammit.

The Earthbender stopped unloading the boots, "Okay, fine"

Toph then stood up, stretching her arms. How long was she out for? It felt like 100 years, she hoped she didn't waste too much time being passed out.

And  _ holy shit _ , did she feel like she was hit by a giant rock, her whole body ached and she was freezing, even with all the extra layers- 

"What's your name? How'd you get here? Is that giant furry animal your pet? How old are you? You look our age, and you said you're an Earthbender?" Girl bombarded her with a million questions, jumping in front of her all of a sudden 

"Uh..."

"Forgive my weird sister," Funny Voice said before she felt something sharp press to her throat, "Blind or not, I know you're a Fire Nation spy! Why'd you come here?!"

"AH!" Toph shoved him away and took several steps backwards until she bumped into the old lady 

The grandma rested her hands on her shoulders from behind her, " _ Sokka, Katara,"  _ She spoke in a warning tone that reminded her of a parent speaking to their kids (at least she knows their names now), "I apologize, they've never met someone so close to their age before, they're just a little excited" 

_ "NO!"  _

_ "YEAH!"  _

They said simultaneously (I bet you could guess who said what). 

"How old are you?"

"12," Toph said, holding her head high, "I'm Toph. What's your name? Because even though I got no problem calling you old lady, I'm told it's rude" 

"Just call me Gran Gran"  _ Okaaaay _ , were all these people crazy? Maybe she really was just hallucinating and she died on the way here-

Wait, crap. She was  _ here _ for a reason, stop getting distracted.

She made it! She really,  _ really  _ made it! After all that traveling she made it! And it didn't take her  _ nearly _ as long as she thought it would!

Toph began smiling so hard that her face started hurting, "Wait a second, we made it! We made it all the way here!" She punched the air in celebration 

"Um, made it… where?" 

"What do you think  _ here  _ is exactly-  _ OOF _ " Funny Voice (or  _ Sokka _ ) asked but was cut up by Toph hugging him tight, surprisingly strong from someone three years younger than him 

When she finally pulled back, she was beaming up at him, "The Northern Water Tribe,  _ duh!" _

…. 

…. 

_ Silence _

"What?"

Katara spoke up, "This isn't the Northern Tribe,"

"It's the  _ Southern _ Water tribe."

………. 

……… 

_ "WHAAAAAAAAAAA- _

________________

_ -AAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!"  _

Toph screamed, grabbing her head and tugging at her hair, "ARE YOU  _ KIDDING _ ME?!" 

The three watched as the young Earthbender paced the floor, shouting to no one in particular, "How did we go the wrong way!? South is _South_ , North is _North!_ AURGH! HOW COULD I BE SO STUPID?! I knew that island was way too close for it to be North! How could I've done this! I'm _SCREWED!"_

Toph snatched her banjo out from Sokka's hands and slung it by the strap behind her back, "I-I I gotta get outta here. I gotta leave, _now,"_ She briefly stopped at the igloo's entrance, "It was really nice of you to make sure I didn't, you know, _die._ And I'll definitely return the favor one day, I swear it, just not _today"_

"Wait, even if you do plan on traveling to our sister Tribe, the temperatures are the lowest they'll be all year right now. If you go, you'll freeze" Gran Gran protested 

"Gran Gran's right, you should stay. At least wait this out" Katara said, taking a few steps forward 

The girl shook her head, "You don't understand. I  _ need  _ to get there. I've wasted enough time as it is. I've gotta _ try" _

Toph charged out of the hut and Gran Gran turned to Katara, placing a hand on her back, " _ Please _ talk her out of this"

The Waterbender nods then Sokka cut it, "I'm coming too! I still don't trust her. She's too strong for a girl, she's probably a spy!" 

Katara flicked Sokka's nose before running out.

  
  
  
  


The siblings left the igloo and followed the trail of Toph's voice, she was shouting for something. 

" _ Wander! Wander! Where'd they put you, buddy!" _ Toph screamed, her gloved hands cupped to her mouth as she walked aimlessly around the village, the villagers giving her odd looks 

"Hey! Toph! Slow down!" Katara catched up to the Earthbender and walked by her side. She listened to the girl call the name a few more times before asking, "Is Wander the mammoth you were with?" 

" _ Mammoth?  _ Wander's no mammoth! He's a  _ badgermole.  _ You ever heard of one before?"

Badgermole. Badgermole. Badgermo- "I think I might've. Don't they live in the Earth Kingdom?" 

Toph nodded, "Uh-huh. They're the masters of Earthbending. They're amazing Earthbenders," She said before adding, "Well, besides  _ me.  _ I'm the greatest Earthbender in the world" She began calling for Wander again

"Oh yeah?" Sokka butt in, squishing himself in between the two, "Okay, so why does the  _ greatest Earthbender in the world  _ even wanna  _ get  _ to the Northern Water Tribe?" He squinted suspiciously 

"It's complicated and quite frankly, none of your business. I just need to and there's no talking me out of this if that's what you guys are here for," She folded her arms and began walking at a faster pace, away from the two, "Now, if one of you can tell me where the badgermole is, that'd be great"

Sokka and Katara look at each other anxiously before leading Toph to the hut that Wander was currently residing in. 

_ "Wander!  _ There you are! Didn't you hear me calling your name?" Toph exclaimed, running ahead of the siblings inside the hut where the badgermole was laying in, they had even given him a large tarp to use as a blanket. Toph used the Earth to launch herself up into the air and land on his face, hugging him. He raised his head slightly, yawning, "Oh, were you sleeping? Sorry" 

She jumped off and stood in front of him, Sokka and Katara watched from off to the side, "I know you're tired, but we gotta go. This is the  _ Southern  _ Water Tribe, not the  _ Northern, _ we went the wrong way!"

_ "How do you even mess that up- ow!"  _ Sokka whispered over to his sister, who in turn silently ribbed him in the chest 

The 12 year old gasped at her animal friend, "What do you mean _ 'I told you so!?' You  _ were the one who said it was this way!" 

Wander groaned at her, "We weren't taking a boat! I get motion sick, you know that!" She shouted 

She continued arguing with him which understandably puzzled the siblings. Toph was talking to the badgermole as if she could understand him by the grunts and groans he responded with. 

So not only was Toph an Earthbender in the South Pole for some reason, she can also talk to badgermles? Or really, maybe jus _ t  _ this badgermole? Overthinking the situation frankly made Katara's brain hurt. 

  
  
  
  


A little while later, Toph was with Wander just outside the Southern Water Tribe's short walls, getting ready to leave. Katara walked up to them. 

"Just think about this for a moment, Toph"

Toph wasn't facing her, she was busy securing the tarp the villagers graciously allowed her to keep around Wander, "I have thought about it and my duty to get to Northern Water Tribe outweighs any survival instinct" 

"Can't you at least, I dunno, burrow under the ground or something?" Katara knew it was helpless at this point, Toph was going. But it would go a long way to make sure she was safe, "You're an Earthbender, aren't you?" 

"I would if I could, honest. But the ground is frozen solid, it's hard enough to  _ lift a rock _ , let alone  _ dig underground," _ After the Earthbender finished securing the tarp, she turned to face Katara, "But we'll be alright. Once we get to a little warmer place, we'll be able to just fine" 

The two stood in silence for a while. Why did Toph even need to  _ get  _ to the Northern Water Tribe anyway? Were her reasons so  _ complicated  _ as she said that she couldn't at least  _ try  _ to shed some light on the situation. To at least try and give Katara some clarity before she goes? 

But she won't, and Katara knows it. They don't know each other, they had practically taken in a stranger.  _ They're  _ strangers. She doesn't owe Toph anything as much as Toph doesn't owe her anything. 

"Here," Toph shuffled in her bag for a moment before handing Katara the last few coins she had, "Take this. It's not a lot and I have no idea what your currency is or if it's different from the Earth Kingdom but thank you for saving me and Wander" 

Or maybe Toph did owe her something? Katara thought, shifting the coins around in her hand.

"Well, you  _ were _ the most interesting thing that's happened here in awhile" The Waterbender pointed a thumb to all the villagers huddled around the walls of the Water Tribe, watching them. Even Sokka was there, eyeing the two of them.

Toph laughed and pressed her clenched fists' knuckles together, bowing her head slightly. Katara assumed it was some kind of Earth Kingdom greeting or goodbye thing. 

Then, they left.

Katara watched them go. Watched them trudge off into the snowy distance with no intent of ever returning. 

________________

The wind was harsh and the bite was unforgiving. Toph felt Wander shiver as a chill ran through him. 

They had to keep going. To keep pushing through the cold because it's all they could do now. Continuously lifting the ground to move the snow, carving a path for then to walk and see through.

Toph felt herself shaking, even through all the extra lays the Southern Water Tribe had given her, "We have to keep going dammit," She clenched her teeth, "We're Earthbenders, we're stubborn. We have to persist, this is no-...  _ nothing" _

Fuck. 

She should've waited. She should've stayed. Why did she leave? Where had her patience gone? Hundreds,  _ thousands _ of Earthbending spirits were looking down at her, shaking their heads. 

She needed to stop.

She needed to wait. 

She needed to  _ listen. _

She was so scared of wasting more time, she hadn't stopped to think if she'll  _ live.  _ That old lady was right. Funny Voice was right,  _ Katara _ was right 

_ She's an idiot.  _

________________

_ KRTCH _

_ KRTCH  _

_ KRTCH _

"Hey  _ warrior,  _ go outside and check what all that stomping is about" 

"I know you called me a warrior -which I  _ am  _ one- but I know by how you said it that you didn't mean it," Sokka stood up from cleaning his spear, raising his nose in the air, "But I'm taking the compliment anyway!"

Sokka, Gran Gran, and his idiotic sister were in their small hut. It was late and after the weird day he had, he was grateful it was soon coming to a close. He was in the middle of cleaning his club while Katara was reading a scroll. Their grandmother sitting on a chair a little off to the side, reading as well. 

The boy took his spear and walked out of the home, making sure to kick his sister on his way out.

The sun had already set far below the horizon, the sky dark and vast with nothing but the moon and the stars.

Sokka sighed in relief, this crazy day filled with strangers and potential threats is over. He scoped the area; nothing. He closed his eyes, smiling and dusting off his hands.

"But it's all in a day's work for the  _ best  _ warrior in the vill _ -AAAAAAAA _ !" 

Sokka screeched as he turned on his heel and was met face to face with glossy, dead eyes, " _ AAAAAAAAA- _ Oh, it's you again. I thought we got rid of you" 

" _ I'm so glad you're okay and not a human popsicle _ . Why thank you, Funny Voice!" 

Toph was standing in front of him, hugging herself with Wander standing behind her. 

"I knew it was stupid of you to go- wait,  _ Funny Voice?"  _ Sokka growled, " _ MY VOICE ISN'T FUNNY!"  _

"Uh,  _ yeah _ it is" 

"RRGG! Well what about you, huh?!" The 15 year old hollered loud enough to wake the entire village. He grabbed a fist full of her hair and yanked on it as hard as he could, "IF MY VOICE IS FUNNY THAN _YOU_ _LOOK FUNNY!"_

  
  
  
  


_ "Look at your hair! You can barely see your eyes and you're so short that I barely even noticed you!"  _

_ "Oh yeah?! Well your voice is so high and shrill that you sound like a squealing pig-chicken!"  _

Katara listened to the voices outside, watching as Gran Gran sighed from her chair and rubbed her temples, " _ Now there's two of them… _ Katara, bring them inside before  _ I do"  _

Fearing for the lives of both her brother and (potential) friend, the Waterbender nodded immediately, jumping to her feet and rushing outside. 

They both froze when she came outside. Toph was on Sokka's back, grabbing his cheeks and Sokka had his arms reached behind himself, fists clutching her bangs. 

Katara raised an eyebrow, wearing an unamused expressions and folded her arms, " _ Inside _ before Gran Gran comes out" 

Sokka visablily paled and Toph jumped off his back, the boy ran inside, "Hi Gran Gran! Did I ever tell you you're my  _ favorite _ grandma in the whole world!"

_ "I'm your only grandma in the whole world!" _ The old lady shouted from inside 

Toph walked up to Katara and Katara smiled at her, "Gran Gran said you'd be back" 

"Well it's cold. And as much as I'm freaking out, the badgermoles taught me patience. I can wait out the cold" 

Katara was glad she was back again. She was worried about the well-being of her, trying to travel not only in low temperatures but in low temperatures that she wasn't used to. (And again, she  _ was _ the most interesting thing to happen to this tribe for a while but that was besides the point). 

And apparently Toph knew it as well, she had ignored her inctists. She wanted to ask what made the Northern Water Tribe so important but understood that if Toph doesn't want to talk about it, she can't force her to.

When they walked inside together, Gran Gran glanced at Toph, "Welcome back, Toph" 

"Hey there, Gran Gran!" Toph grinned, "How long till the temperature rises?" 

"It'll get warmer gradually. The temperature will be suitable for traveling in a couple days, probably a week"

Sokka whined, "She's gonna have to stay here for a  _ week?"  _

"You say that as if you  _ didn't  _ miss me!" Toph took her banjo out from the strap behind her back, "You haven't even heard me play yet, you'll love it!" Sokka groaned and Katara laughed

________________

Somewhere across the world, in the Earth Kingdom, in a giant Fire Nation ship, in a dimly lit room stood Zuko, crown prince banished from his home.

He hovered over a map with only a few candles lighting his sight, "Those Earth Kingdom hicks have such big mouths," He whispered to himself before turning his head up towards the open door where Iroh stood, "Uncle" 

"Yes, Prince Zuko?"

"Tell the crew to ready the ship again,"

_ "I know where the Avatar is"  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that was chapter 1! Things get good, trust me
> 
> Also, I have these 2 headcannons that after the war Toph would learn the banjo and befriend this bandgermole that she named Wander (who's smaller than average, a little bigger than Appa). And I loved those ideas so much that I had to add it in this au because I LIKE THEM ALOT OKAY 
> 
> I hope you enjoy the next chapter too! Be sure to leave some comments, I love to hear people talk!!!!!!


	2. Surprise!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's been around a week since the events of chapter 1 and Sokka and Katara are are gonna experience a little more than a curve ball

Days have passed now, nearly a week and a half to be exact (Sokka is keeping count) and Toph was actually situating quite nicely. Well, Katara was impressed at least.

The villagers were a little weary at first, more so considering the giant  _ beast _ that followed her everywhere she went. But once they found out that Wander is docile and loved music and pets, they warmed up to both of them right away. 

The younger children of the Tribe were super interested in her bending as well, having never met another bender besides Katara (who was nothing compared to her skill and mastery). She made them sculptures, figurines and even slides, all out of rock. So she basically bought the kids affections, so what. 

Katara even taught her how to properly prepare sea prunes and kale noodles (to which she admitted later having never even  _ heard  _ of them before, Katara guessed they didn't have it in the Earth Kingdom).

But currently, Katara was searching for said Earthbender, she's barely seen her all day save for this morning (But that doesn't count, she was staying in their hut with them). 

"Alright, listen up soldiers! The Fire Nation could show up at any moment, so you always have to be on the lookout for possible danger!" Her ears perked up at the sound of her brother's voice, she turned her head and saw Sokka marching back and forth in front of the young children of the Tribe, "The Fire Nation is strong and have a great military and even  _ better  _ navy but if you listen to me, I could make you the greatest warriors this world has ever seen. Any questions?" 

"Can I go to the bathroom?" 

" _ ARGGH!" _

The Waterbender trotted up to the group, "Sokka, have you seen Toph any- oh!" 

"Hey there, Girly," Toph waved, sitting down next to the young kids, leaning on her hands which were placed behind her, "Come, join. I hear it's taught by a  _ fearless warrior.  _ But…" The blind girl's grin picked up, "I'm still waiting for him to show up" 

Katara held back a snort as Sokka glared at her, " _ Don't you laugh!  _ Toph is only here because we gotta go fishing after this!"

"No no, this is  _ way  _ too interesting. I think I'll be coming to every lesson from here on out. I can't wait to see how you mold these kids into  _ the greatest warriors this world has ever seen" _

"AURGH! That's it, class is  _ over! _ Everyone go do your chores!" Sokka stomped, watching everyone get up and shuffle away. Toph stood up and shrugged, beginning to walk off before the teenager grabbed her by the hood of her parka and yanked her to both of them, "Where are  _ you're  _ going?" Toph grinned nervously

  
  
  
  


An hour later, Sokka, Katara and Toph were on their tiny little fishing canoe, surrounded by glaciers on all sides for miles on end. 

Sokka was peering over the boat, holding his spear and looking for fish, wearing a concentrated look on his face and tongue sticking out of his mouth slightly. Toph was leaning against the side of the boat, her banjo was in her lap as she was tuning it, a net right in between her and Katara. 

_ Come on, come on… _

_ She could do it, she's surrounded by her natural element. It can't be that hard, just focus and…  _

Katara frowned her brow, leaning over the boat and waving her arms in a practiced motion, calling the ocean to her. 

Promptly, a medium sized glob of water levitated from the sea carrying a fish inside. It floated up and towards her. She gasped, eyes sparking with delight. 

Her brother groaned, his eyes still glued below him, "Great, now I don't just have one annoying girl who won't work, but  _ two"  _

"Hey, I'm working" Toph said, not moving from her position 

_ "Guys!"  _ Katara whispered excitedly

"Oh yeah? What're you doing then?"

" _ Guys!"  _

"I'm providing entertainment of course," She grinned then played a short tune on her instrument, "See?" 

Sokka huffed, "You're ridiculous" Girls shouldn't even be allowed to  _ play  _ instruments (not that he knew how to play one but that was besides the point)

"I think the term you're looking for is  _ mad genius.  _ Hey, that rhymes!"

_ "Guys! Look!"  _ Katara finally spoke loud enough to catch their attention, "I'm Waterbending!" 

Toph's eyes shot open and she jerked upright, "Water wha-  _ ACK!" _

_ Splash! _

Toph sat up and bumped right into to water floating right above her head… with the fish. Soaking wet, she shoved the fish in the net and jumped to her feet, "Katara, you're a  _ Waterbender?!"  _

"Yeah, and it's really annoying" Sokka said 

Katara shot him a glare, then turned back to the girl, "Yeah, I am. I mean, I'm not that good right now since I don't have a master to teach me. But I'd love to learn it someday!"

"Yeah, so she could waste  _ more  _ time- OW!"

"Why didn't I know this?!" 

"Oh, uh. Sorry, I guess you were never there when I bent?" The older girl shrugged her shoulders 

Well, there was that one time two days ago when she accidentally froze the water she was about to drink. Toph laughed but looking back, Katara realized that Toph probably thought it froze on its own since it's so cold. 

Swiftly, Toph sat back down and held Katara's gloved hands in her own, causing her to jump a bit. The 12 year old was still soaking wet as she stared intently in her direction, "You're a  _ Waterbender.  _ Come with me to the Northern Water Tribe! There are a ton of master Waterbenders there! You can learn!"

_ Umm... _

Go to the Northern Water Tribe? Leave  _ home?  _ To the other side of the  _ world?  _ To master Waterbending? 

Holy shit. Was she just given an…  _ opportunity?  _ Something that would stray from her fate of staying here for the rest of her life, sitting terrified of the Fire Nation. Holy shit, this was a lot to take in. 

No, she couldn't. She  _ can't. _ She wants to but she can't. There's too much to worry about. What about Gran Gran? Or Sokka? Would he come? What about her  _ home?  _ The place she was  _ born  _ in. 

Sokka peered over from behind Toph, giving them both questionable looks. He probably thinks they've become hysterical. 

Katara blinked, tightening her hold on Toph's hands ever so slightly, "Toph… I'd love to go but… I've never left home beeeee-  _ OOOOOAAAAAAA!" _

Katara shrieked, hollering out as she pointed to behind them, " _ SHIP!"  _

"Ship? What kinda answer's that?" Toph tilted her head in confusion 

Sokka whipped his head around and was greeted with the largest ship he had ever seen in his life. 

It was sailing right towards them a couple hundred feet away. It was clad, metal, ominous and worst of all,  _ Fire Nation. _ If the giant red flags and smoke emitting from the top was any indication. 

_ "AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"  _

The three kids screamed simultaneously, trying to move their small canoe as fast as they could. Sokka used the paddles, shifting his arms forward and back hastily and Toph dunked her banjo in the water, using it to paddle. All the while they continued to scream and shout. 

_ "AAAAAAHHHHHHH!"  _

Once their tiny boat reached land, they stumbled off the boat, all of them falling over each other as they scrambled back to the Southern Water Tribe. 

Once they entered the village, Katara shouted first, "The Fire Nation's here! The Fire Nation's here! We saw their ship!" 

"Yeah! Hurry, you guys gotta hide or something! They'll be here any second!" Toph hollered next 

Sokka stood in front of the small crowd, "Everyone! Get to your assigned hiding areas and don't come out until I say so!" He ordered, watching as the people began huddling and scattering, trying to get to their spots as quickly and as safely as possible

He turned to the young children, his warriors, "This is it, men! The moment we've been preparing for! Hurry up! The Fire Nation could be here any minute now!" He barked as the boys ran past him to their stations, one of them stopped and raised his hand, Sokka then yelled, "AND  _ NO _ BATHROOM BREAKS!" The boy ran

Meanwhile, Toph stomped on the ground, creating a large wall of frozen rock around the Tribe. It caused the weaker, snow walls that surrounded the village to collapse, "Stay close to me, Katara. I'm not going down with a fight!" 

The Waterbender nodded, "Let's go find Wander"

________________

Sokka had just finished painting on his warrior makeup when the Fire Nation ship reached the icey shore. He dashed out of the hut and watched as the boat's gangway came down. 

He watched a teenager that couldn't be that much older than himself with a nasty looking scar covering the left side of his face walk out first. He wore the signature Fire Nation soldier uniform complete with the helmet and all. He was followed by four more soldiers which walked closely behind him. 

Sokka sprinted up the gangway, boomerang in hand, " _ RAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"  _ He gave the mighty screech of a fighter, "GET OUTTA HERE, YOU FIRE NATION SCU- ACK!" 

The scared boy kicked Sokka off the plank effortlessly. He fell flat on his face and into the hardened snow.

Katara, who was standing next to Toph, gasped, " _ Sokka!" _

She darted to her brother's side to make sure he was okay.

" _ HEY!"  _ Toph roared, standing her ground, "Leave the warrior alone!" She stomped on the snowy floor, a rock emerging out and flung directly at the Fire Nation boy

He jumped out of the way just in time, though the boulder did hit one of his men hard enough to possibly shatter a rib or two. The teenager landed on the ground, a few feet in front of Toph.

Villagers were emerging out from their designated hiding spots and into the open, staying close to their huts, watching with curiosity of what might unfold.

Sokka noticed and grunted as Katara helped him stand, his make up nearly gone because of the snow, "No!  _ Erg! _ Everyone, get away!" He grunted as Katara helped him make their way over to the others, trying to keep him out of harm's way

_ "I knew I'd find the Avatar here" _ He hissed 

Toph's eyes widened as gasps from the villagers had littered the air. 

"Avatar Kuruk was a  _ coward _ who cared more about himself than being an Avatar. And it seemed that his karma had finally caught up with him," He started, "Now that he's been dead, I've spent years preparing for this moment,  _ Avatar" _

"Toph?" Katara called from behind her 

" _ No way" _ Sokka's mouth dropped 

Toph said nothing and the boy charged at her. He sliced through the air with a fiery fist, to which Toph had barely enough time to reel away from, singeing the tips of her hair. 

The Firebender struck again, and again and again, trying and failing to get a hit on the Earthbender who was always two steps ahead. He shouted in frustration, using that anger to fuel his fire, shooting an unconstrained blast of fire in her direction. 

The 12 year old raised a wall of rock, fending off the heat. The flames reflected off the wall, nearly burning the villagers. 

Toph smashed through her rock and chucked him back, the heels of his feet digging into the sleet. 

He was pushed back a few meters and bent down, holding knees. His eyes narrowed in on the Earthbender, grinning devilishly. His soldiers circled them, at least five lined up on either side of him, all more prepared to attack than the last. 

"I can't believe those Earth Kingdom peasants were right on your location," He puffed smoke out of his nose as he pounced forward. He gave several consecutive swift, strong kicks as she raised another slab of rock, "Who knew that a couple of stupid, old  _ worn out _ wrestlers would have any idea where the Avatar'd be!" 

Toph wavered for a second, "You talked to my dads?" The first time she spoke since they started fighting 

He somersaulted backwards, shooting a wave of blazes, his men joining in on the fire as well. Toph panted as she created a small Earthen covering, protecting herself from the blasts in a ball of rock. 

_ BOOM! _

_ BOOM!  _

_ FOOSH! _

The blasts continued getting shot and the rock ball Toph was hiding in was beginning to heat up. This won't last forever. 

She needed to think, think of something- think of _anything._ But what was he saying anyway, this guy? Old, worn out wrestlers? Was he talking about her parents? Because that was a pretty spot on description. With the rising temperature in the rock combined with the nagging questions gnawing in the back of her mind, it was becoming increasingly hard to focus. 

Why was this guy so angry anyway? Honestly, who died and crowned him king of the manics?

_ BOOM!  _

_ Focus. Focus. Focus _ . Beads of sweat began forming on the girl's forehead as she squeezed her eyes shut. 

_ FOOSH!  _

_ Think, think, think- _

" _ You'd be surprised what people'd tell you in their dying breath!" _ The angry teenager yawped from outside, in between heated attacks

_ You'd be surprised what people'd tell you in their dying breath.  _

_ You'd be surprised what people'd tell you in their dying breath. _

Toph froze.

________________

Katara watched in pure, undisturbed anger along with the rest of the village as the Firebeanders bombarded the little rock covering with an overwhelming amount of flames and heat, all helpless to watch, unable to do anything. 

What could she do? What  _ can  _ she do? She had to make sure Sokka stayed up right and didn't try and go and get himself _ killed  _ by thinking he could play hero. And she had no Waterbending skill to name of. Neither were of help right now. 

But Toph was in that rock! She couldn't stay in there forever! What if she gets hurt? 

But she just heard that this guy  _ killed Toph's  _ parents.  _ Just _ to find  _ her _ . 

Sokka and Katara looked at each other, anxiety stricken. 

What if Sokka gets hurt? Or Gran Gran, or anyone else in the village? The difference between Toph and the rest of them is that she's a skilled bender. A skilled bender out of her element and struggling but a skilled one nonetheless. 

Her hands shook with passion as she gripped Sokka's arm as an anchor, to which he unconsciously placed a hand on her shoulder, reassuring his sister without even realizing. 

Instantaneously, the small rock shell exploded, a blinding burst of concentrated fire shot out and Katara shut her eyes from the brightness. 

"Toph?" She heard her brother say 

Her eyes shot open and-  _ holy crap.  _

"Holy crap" 

"No kidding" She heard him say, both of them dumbfounded 

Their small, Earthbending friend had blown from out of the rock and was ascending up into the air, shooting  _ fire  _ from her mouth ( _ fire!),  _ " _ RAAAAAAAAHHHH!"  _

What the  _ fuck.  _ Now, Katara wasn't the best at reading people, nor could she see Toph's face because her back was turned to the people of the village but...

Breathing literal  _ fire _ and screaming kinda sounded like she was mad. 

The Firebending soldiers stumbled backwards as they gawped up at the girl, the only one who didn't hesitate was the bald, scared boy that kicked Sokka. (Was he an idiot? Toph was _ floating). _

"Where are you going?!" He snarled as the men began running up the gangway, " _ Cowards!" _

His fist lit on fire once again, eyes fixed on Toph, "Flying or not, you're coming back with me" 

The snow in front of Katara lifted, getting pulled towards Toph. Heaps of snow began circling the levitating Earthbender. 

The teenager tried shooting fire at her but all his shots were deflected and reflected right back at him. 

The snow sprayed him and hardened into shards of ice, which caught him by his pants. His eyes widened as he began melting the frozen trap, the Earth around him shot upwards, immobilizing the bender by his arms and legs. 

He struggled for any escape in the tight hold, " _ ARUGH! _ " He roared 

Then, the rock that trapped the boy threw him backwards and on to the metal ship with a  _ loud CLANG! _

Toph moved the water surrounding it and launched it backwards, sending them soaring off and out into the distance so far that no one could even see the ship that was just there mere seconds ago.

Toph jerked herself around, still in the air, to face the Tribe. Her eyes were glowing and she wore the cold, hard look of pure anger on her features. 

...

What the  _ fuck.  _

It was silent for a few seconds. No one in the village dared to move a muscle, terrified of the overwhelming display of raw power that had just occurred.

They were unable to take their attention off the small girl still flying over them with glowing, unseeing eyes. 

Then,  _ she fell _ . 

She crashed into the frozen snow with a loud boom and Katara felt her feet move faster than her mind, "Toph!" 

Her knees slid against the ground and she came right up to Toph's body. Sitting on her knees, Katara held her breath, looking for even the slightest shred of life. Sokka ran up to them, kneeling down next to his sister.

_ Please don't be dead, please don't be dead, please don't be dead, please don't be dead, please don't- _

The Earthbender sat up, her face scrunched up in perturb and Katara let go of a breath she had no idea she was holding.

Her eyes welled up with tears as she wrapped her arms around Toph as tight as she possibly could, " _ You're okay"  _ She mumbled into her hair 

Toph was stiff in her arms, before melting into the embrace, burying her face into the Waterbender's chest. She said nothing, and Katara felt her hands clench at her back. 

After the hug ended (far too shortly in Katara's opinion) and the three stood up, Katara found that the whole village was now crowding over them. She watched Sokka turn to Toph, " _ Toph,  _ how did you  _ do that?" _

He knew. He knew how she did that-  _ everyone did.  _ He just wanted to hear her  _ say it. _

_ Because Avatar Kuruk died 12 years ago. _

_ Because she was able to control all four elements.  _

_ Because she was the Avatar _ .

"I…" Toph's gaze was shifted downwards, "I dunno. It just happened. That guy, he said  _ he- _ " She squeezed her eyes shut and covered her mouth. 

Sokka and Katara quietly hugged her. The rest of the village fell into a somber moment of silence to show their respects. 

________________

Two days after the Fire Nation attacked, Toph was getting ready to leave (for real this time). The temperature was warmer and her and Wander were finally able to burrow underground. 

"I can't believe you're leaving already. It feels as though you just arrived, cold and unconscious" Gran Gran said, watching the Avatar dig through her bag for a moment

She began walking out of the igloo, the old lady following after her, "Right? I can't believe how quick the time's gone!"

Wander came up to them, Sokka and Katara on either side of him. 

"Are you  _ finally _ leaving today?" Sokka cheered,  _ "Yes!" _

"I know right? I'll never have to hear your annoying voice again" Toph said, standing in front of him 

"And I'll never have to see your ugly mug ever again" 

"…."

"…."

They grabbed each other and wrapped their arms around the other, both crying loudly, _ "I'M GONNA MISS YOU, BUDDY!" _ They bawled in unison

Katara rolled her eyes and allowed the two to cry in each other's arms for a minute longer before breaking them apart, "Alright, alright," She smiled, turning to the short girl, "I'm really gonna miss you, Toph. Do you really need to leave so soon?" 

Toph felt Katara take both her hands, holding them tightly, a familiar heat flushed her cheeks, "Yeah, can't have anymore Fire Nation ships coming here and attacking. Plus, I still need to get to the Northern Water Tribe. Someone's gotta teach me Waterbending"

Then the Earthbender jumped slightly, slapping the palm of her hand against her forehead, "Oh wait! My banjo, I can't go anywhere without that!" Toph grinned at the family, "I'll be right back" Before running back into the igloo 

Katara looked away solemnly, "Right...  _ Waterbending..."  _

"Hey Gran Gran, what do you have there?" Sokka pointed to the items their Grandmother was holding two large rolled up pieces of cloth

Gran Gran smiled, shoving one sack into each of their hands, "Sleeping sacks. You'll need these" She smiled 

The siblings raised an eyebrow at each other and gave the woman skeptical looks, "For what?" Katara asked 

"You have a long journey ahead of you," She began, "Toph's the Avatar, she's the world's only chance in ending this war. You found her for a reason, your destinies are intertwined with her's now"

Sokka's mouth dropped open and Katara's face lit up, "You mean…!"

"We're going with Toph!?"

Gran Gran chuckled, nodding her head slightly, "I'm so proud of you two, be nice to one another and keep each other safe" She hugged them and they hugged her back

They stayed like that until they heard the strimming of Toph's banjo, "I found my banjo-! Oh, were you guys having a moment…?" Toph paused before exclaiming, "Too bad!" She began playing loudly and obnoxiously, Wander began stomping his feet, enjoying the music 

Sokka groaned and Katara laughed, and grabbed Toph in for a hug, effectively cutting off her music, " _ Tooooph!  _ We're coming with you North!" 

"What?!"

Katara nodded enthusiastically, holding her tighter, "Yeah! Gran Gran said our destinies were intertwined and we could come with you!"

"That's…" Toph paused, her face blank for a moment for grinning from ear to ear, lifting Katara up, hugging her, " _ Great!  _ We'll learn Waterbending together!" 

Toph spun Katara around, the Waterbender's legs still not touching the ground (Spirits Toph was strong) and they laughed and laughed, cheering. Sokka folded his arms and stuck out his tongue, "Gross..."

Toph grabbed Sokka and lifted him into the air, hugging them both, "ACK! TOPH, LET ME GO!" 

The sound of laughing continued 

"I'M SERIOUS!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's chapter 2! Be sure to check out thecursedavatar on tumblr for promo art for mew chapters that are to come out every Friday! 
> 
> (Also yes, Toph's dad's are the earth rumble line up team I WIL DIE ON THIS HILL)
> 
> Leave comments! I'd love to hear your thoughts!


	3. Not So 20 Questions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Toph, Sokka and Karae had left the Southern Water Tribe a couple days after their encounter with Zuko, now they must begin their travels to the Northern Water Tribe to find a master. Their first real foe; boredom

"You know, burrowing underground for hours on end isn't as bad as I thought it would be" 

"I told you, you just gotta get used to it" 

Toph, Sokka, Katara and, of course, Wander were deep underground the frozen tundra of the South pole, having been tunneling already for about three days (it was hard to keep track when underground and even _harder_ when you can't see the sun). Sokka and Katara sat on the giant badgermole's back as Wander and Toph Earthbent the dirt, rock and other Earthen elements in front of them at lightning speeds, tunneling their way through the dimly lit tunnel. 

Sokka held a touch up to the map in his hands and squinted at the paper in front of him, "We're making record time! If I'm right -which I know I am- we're already halfway across the South Pole!"

"That's great, Sokka!" Katara exclaimed from next to him, "We'll be at the Northern Water Tribe in no time!" 

________________

"Urggghhhhhhh, this is taking foreveeeeerrr" Sokka groaned, laying on his back, just barely holding onto Wander. His touch had died out a while ago and is now off to his side 

"It's only been a couple hours, Warrior. Be patient" Toph piped from in front 

Sokka moaned again, this time even louder than the last, he rolled onto his sister's lap, "Soooo… _borrrrreedddd"_

"Why don't you go read your map again, Sokka? You love doing that" Katara absent-mindly suggested, her eyes glued to the water she was struggling to keep afloat

"Arrgggghhh, I already diiiid," He shoved Katara away, causing her water to fall on her head, she huffed. Sokka crawled across Wander's back, peering over his head and over to the Avatar, " _Tooooopppphhh"_

"Don't look at me, I'm doing something" 

"Oh! I know, we could play a game!" Katara smiled, making her way to Sokka, leaning on him to look at Toph as well, "Toph, we've known you for nearly two weeks now but we barely know anything about each other! We could play 20 Questions!" 

"I've never played before, but it sounds fun. How do you play?" Toph asked, continuing to Earthbend a tunnel for passage

Sokka perked up, pushing the Waterbender off his back, "You and your friends sit together and go around asking questions that everyone has to answer truthfully," He explained, "It's fun! _And_ it's a game where I get to learn new things, so it's great!" 

"Answering questions truthfully, huh?" Toph grinned and used the Earth to launch herself onto Wander, "You better hold yourself on that, I'm a built in lie detector" She folded her arms pridefully 

"Lie detector? What do you mean?" Katara frowned her brow, scooting closer to the girl 

Toph lifted her feet, "Since my feet let me sense the vibrations in things on the ground to help me get around, they can also let me sense the vibration in _humans_ ," She explained, "Which means I can feel all the little things that would give someone away if they lie; racing heart, increased temperature, all that jazz" 

Sokka and Katara blinked. 

"Woah, that'll be useful in the future. I wanna start first then!" Sokka bounced in his spot excitedly, genuinely interested in learning more about the young spirit of the world

"Sure, just hang on a sec," The 12 year old said before shouting down at the badgermole they were riding, "Hey Wander, let's stop for the night, Buddy!" The badgermole made a sound of affirmation before plopping down on the dirt with a thunderous _BOOM_

The badgermole yawned, and curled up onto a ball. To which the three slid off his back and sat huddled together in the dark. Sokka lit another touch and stuck it into the dirt while Katlara rolled out her's and Sokka's sleeping sacks (Toph didn't have one, she liked sleeping on the ground (little weirdo)).

"Alright! I'm going first!" Sokka said as he sat on his sack, "Toph, hrmmm.." Alright Sokka, make this question count, make it a good one, something we could learn countless things from, "What's your favorite colour?" Dammit, you're so smart, why do you do this

"Pass" 

"Nice question"

"Alright, that was dumb. How about this; how'd Wander get his name?" 

"Now that's better!" Toph exclaimed, leaning against the giant, dozing badgermole, "He likes to wander around a lot. That's why he's _Wander!"_

"What? That's just blatant self-explanatory! I thought it was gonna be something cool!" The Water Tribe boy argued

"Hey! It's a nice name, it's cool that he wanders! We've explored so much because of that!" 

"Whatever, you suck at giving names. Don't worry, Wander. I'll rename you," Sokka reassured the animal who definitely wasn't listening or even awake at this point, "From now on you'll be called Sokka Junior" 

_"HEY_ , who're you to rename him?!" 

"Let's just get back to the game. Toph, you're turn" Katara realed the conversation back in

"Alright. Sokka, how'd you get to be such a know-it-all?" She snorted 

Katara face palmed as Sokka answered, "For your information, I'm curious by nature. I have a thirst for knowledge and it's my greatest asset, thank you very much" 

"Well I won't argue with that. Waterbug, you wanna go?" 

The 14 year old nodded, giggling at the nickname, "Thanks. Let's see… Why'd you learn to play the banjo? You play really nice" 

Toph blushed and grinned sheepishly, "Thanks, one of my dads taught me. I learned because Wander loves music. All badgermoles do! It can really change their mood depending on what you play!" 

"Man, you sure do a lot of things because of that badgermole, huh?" Sokka retorts before shaking his head, "But you guys are asking lame questions! We'll never learn anything _juicy_ about each other at this rate!" 

"You asked what Toph's favourite _colour_ was" Katara looked unamused 

"And _you_ asked why she learned the banjo! We're even!" Sokka pointed an accusing finger at the Waterbender. 

Katara shook her hands in front of her face, "Fine, fine. How about this," She turned to Toph, "What part of the Earth Kingdom are you from? What's it like?"

A smile began creeping up on the Earthbender's face, " _Gaoling,_ south of the Earth Kingdom! And it's great, once you get past the stuffy nobles!" She gave a hearty bellow, "There's this super cool thing called _Earth Rumble_ where you get to fight some of the _strongest_ Earthbenders in the _world!_ And not to brag _buuuut_ I was basically the undefeated champion" No- scratch that, she was totally bragging

"Wow, really? That's amazing!" Katara praised the girl 

"That _is_ pretty cool and better question, Katara. But it's not as good as _my_ question's gonna be but still a good question" Sokka said 

Neither girl looked so convinced on that statement, "Oh yeah? What's your question then, smart guy?" 

Sokka chuckled, closing his eyes in confidence, "I'm glad you asked… Toph!" He pointed a finger at her, "How'd you find out you were the Avatar?" He beamed, "See? _Now_ we're getting somewhere!"

"How I found out I was the Avatar…?" She shifted uncomfortably in her spot, "Uh, you _sure_ you wanna learn that? Not that it's bad or that I _wouldn't_ tell you guys or anything, it's just…" Her voice trailed off, cracking a bit

They both exchanged worried looks, Katara spoke first, "Is it because your… _parents_ are in it..?" 

Katara didn't wanna make Toph upset telling a story if mentioning her parents would make her sad now that they were… _gone._ ( _Fuck_ that ponytailed freak) She could understand where she was coming from if that was the case, she knows that her and Sokka still have trouble talking about their mother since that day. 

"You don't need to tell us if you don't wanna, Toph" Sokka said, voice racked with worry and guilt 

The Waterbender nodded in agreement, placing a hand on Toph's shoulder and moving herself even closer to her, "We lost our mom eight years ago in a Fire Nation raid… It's _still_ hard to tell stories about her" 

"No, it's just," Toph shook her head, "I'll tell you guys, it's alright" 

She brought her knees up to her face and hugged herself, the low touch light dancing shadows behind all of them on the cavern walls. 

They both waited patiently for her to begin.

________________

Toph Beifong ran away from home when she was six years old, tired of being stifled and ruled over. So like any young child, she explored. Finding a small hole in the great wall surrounding her parents' vast property.

She found the badgermoles, they were affectionate in all the ways her parents weren't and taught her more about being a person rather than how to be a quiet doll. 

She stayed, finding the endless stream of labyrinths and caves more like home than the cold, empty estate ever was. She mastered Earthbending under them and grew up surrounded by the life of Earth, learning to appreciate all of it. That everything is _alive_ , that they live for a purpose, that everything connects and everything is the same. Because it all came from the Earth. 

After two and a half years of living with them, Toph decided it was time to fight actual _people,_ she left the caves and joined Earth Rumble under the alias of _The Blind Bandit._

She's an Earth Rumble champion, but some of the Earth Rumble lineup members' dad instincts kicked in and within a year of fighting against her and losing time and time again, they started asking questions, but they weren't _overbearing_ . ' _Are you hungry? Do you need a bandage for your scraped knee? How are you doing? Good job on your win!'_

After a while, Toph began to trust them. They reminded her of the badgermoles, they cared but they aren't overbearing, they didn't doubt her skill because of her disability and they are genuinely _proud_ of her, that's more than she can say for her actual parents (who she still thought about frequently). 

Then one day, it was after one of the championships, Toph had won once again, no surprise there. After the noise and excitement had died down and the audience were long gone, her and the line up were together. 

Gopher (Toph knew all their names, she just preferred calling them by their wrestling personas. It was cooler) had asked her about her parents, who they were. She knew they had all probably talked to each other about it before, speculating, she could feel all their heartbeats spike up. And she found herself speaking before she even realized what she was saying. 

And what surprised her most is that she told the truth; _Lao and Poppy Beifong_. It felt so weird to say their names aloud after so long. She told them everything, how they wanted to coddle her, they didn't take her seriously, gave her no agency, all because she was blind. She told them that she ran away, how she learnt from the badgermoles, they showed her more affection and freedom than her parents ever did. And all six of them stayed silent the entire time, listening to her. 

When she was finished, they didn't say anything. But she was patient, she could wait them out. They wouldn't judge her, they aren't like that, none of them were. She wanted to believe that but all their heartbeats were still going so fast. It was hard to focus, what if they tell her parents where she was? Would they do that? Did they think what she did was disrespectful? 

But her questions were cut short when Fire Nation Man spoke, "Where are you living now?" 

"The caves. With the badgermoles" It isn't as bad as it sounds, there's always something to do; hunt, expand, play with the younger ones. But Toph would be lying if she said always talking to animals made up for human interaction

"Alone?" Asked Hippo, his heart was as big as him and it showed plenty 

Toph nodded. The badgermoles were great company, especially her bestest friend in the whole world, Wander. A badgermole who was a little smaller than average, probably around the size of an Air Bison. The two of them just connected on this other level, they both were small and blind but were part of the best damn Earthbenders in the world. 

"You know, you _could_ live with… us. If you want to, that is!" Geko finally stopped beating around the bush and said it 

"It's just that you're still a kid, a really, _really_ strong kid but still a kid nonetheless! And we wouldn't mind-" The Boulder said

"And we've been talking about it for a while and we kinda expected you to be an orphan and we honestly have no problem with it!" Headhunter cut him off 

"And we practically see you as our kid already so we just figured that if you want to, you know, live with us, we wouldn't mind" Gopher was the last to add 

Toph just stood there dumbfounded.

They saw her as their kid, they saw _themselves_ as her parents. But they didn't act like her parents did. They encouraged her to do better and _knew_ she was the greatest Earthbender in the world and didn't mind it one bit, in fact, they were _proud_ of that fact. 

Their home was on the outskirts of Gaoling, it was near the mountains and wasn't too far from a lake (that they would teach her to swim in not too long after). 

When she moved in, Wander got to come with her, making a hut outside the home out of rock. 

And things were great, Toph didn't get just one dad who loved and respected her, but _six._ They taught her how to swim, how to cook, how to talk to people and how to have healthy relationships, how to _love._

And she taught them how to hunt, and tried to teach them seismic sense. It was nice to be able to depend on people without worrying about them seeing you as lesser. And they loved Wander as much as they loved her. They also taught her all kinds of games like tag, hide and seek (which they realized she would have an _unfair_ advantage to but played just the same), ball, games she never got to learn because of her upbringing. 

And they were so much _different_ from her blood parents. The signature, overly formal, brief Beifong conversations turned into loud, shouting matches that ended in either an invitation to brawl or laughing fits. 

Toph Beifong became Toph, _just_ Toph. And that felt so _freeing._ They knew her past, they knew she was blind but they loved her anyway, they loved her as they would have loved any sighted kid.

She gave them the child they always wanted, and they gave her supportive parents and a reclaimed childhood. 

And the best part, her dads still let Toph stay in Earth Rumble (because they knew she loved it). 

Three years pass, and Toph is 12 years old when the worst day of her life happened. 

She lost the championship. 

That alone isn't so bad, she may be a bit of a sore loser but she knows when to accept defeat. She had lost countless times when learning from the masters. 

Her head wasn't in the match, she was thinking about school, about what she was going to get for Dad-Ko for his birthday (a year after living with her dad's, she switched their names. Instead of calling them by their wrestling personas, she now called them by their own variations of 'dad'. Dad-Ko was Geko, Dad-Po was Hippo, Dad-pher was Gopher, Bol-Dad was The Boulder, Head Hunter was Dad Hunter and Fire Dad was Fire Nation Man. It just made sense). 

And she lost to some guy who was new to the scene, she thinks his name was The Tornado? Or the Tundra? It doesn't matter. 

What mattered is that she lost and Xin Fu was angry. 

She was thrown off the arena and collided with the hard Earth. But before she even had a moment to stand up, the rock beneath her shifted, launching her upwards and back onto the platform where she sensed Xin Fu standing over her, along with the winner. 

His blood was pulsing terribly fast, "You _stupid child!_ Do you have any idea how much money I had on you?!" 

The stadium was shouting, booing at the winner, they all had their bets placed on the Blind Bandit. They were all angry. 

But Toph stood her ground, sturdy like a rock and standing as tall as her tiny body could make herself, "I dunno. A lot?" 

"You _bet_ a lot! Ignorant child, I'll- I'll…" Then he stopped for a moment, she felt his demeanor change. He grinned maliciously and turned to the audience, "HOW DOES THIS SOUND? XIN FU VS. THE BLIND BANDIT! WHAT DO YOU SAY, EARTH RUMBLE FANS?" 

His voice boomed as the audience roared in cheers, then he turned back to the small girl, "What do you say, Blind Bandit? We fight and I get back my money from the revenue" 

"I'll fight you any day!" She placed her feet firmly on the ground. If he was angry and wanted to fight, fine, there was no way he was going to win 

Xin Fu let out a mighty battle cry and charged towards the girl. His feet stomped so loudly as he ran and he slammed a fist into the ground, lifting a giant rock as he pulled it out, hurling it to her. 

Toph held her hands up, lining them with her shoulders, an Earthbender is nothing without their stance. She turned her body, not moving from her spot as the rock soared right past her. 

Xin Fu hesitated for a moment after realizing she dodged it but he quickly shook it off, flinging more chunks of Earth her way. To which she blocked all. 

" _TOPH!"_

Toph was thrown off from the call of her name, it was Bol-Dad. She stopped for a moment, just barely missing one of Xin Fu's attacks.

Suddenly, Bol-Dad and Dad-Po were standing tall in front of her, she sensed a rock lobbed at them but Dad-Po punched through it with a clenched fist and an angry heartbeat. Their boss halted

"Xin Fu, stop. It wasn't her fault she lost!" Bol-Dad argued, Toph allowed him to protect her 

The man was silent for a moment, the three waited for him to make a move, something else Toph had taught them; patience. Then, he growled, "Would you rather take her place?" 

There was a brief stop.

"Yes-" They said at the same time

 _"No!"_

Toph interjected, she was so angry, they couldn't just do that! That isn't fair to them! _She_ was the one who lost, _she_ should be the one to have to fight! She clenched her fists, "No, I'll do it!"

Her fathers' turned to her, both of them bending down considerably in order to meet her level. She was angry, "I can fight! I can beat him!"

"I know you can, I got no doubt about that" Bol-Dad smiled at her, his heart was steady. He was telling the truth. 

"It's just that adults shouldn't be fighting children, it's not right" Dad-Po added, he placed a giant hand on her all too tiny shoulder 

"You fight me all the time! That doesn't make sense!"

"That's-... That's different. _Xin Fu_ is different, we don't hold back on you because we know you can handle it," Bol-Dad went on to explain as fast as he could, knowing they were being timed, "He won't hold back not because he cares or because you can handle it but because he wants to _kill_ you. And people who'd kill a kid are best left to the adults"

Toph wanted to argue, to refute. That she could take him, she has more power in her pinky than he has in his _entire body._ But she said nothing. She nodded, keeping her fist bawled. 

They hugged her tight and Dad-Po said, "Go to the others, they're watching in the first row" The two told her they loved her and she ran off into the audience. 

Rushing to the first row, Toph found the rest of her dads quickly, having memorized their heartbeats long ago. She ran to them, Dad-Ko immediately catching her in a lung crushing embrace, "Spirits, I nearly had a heart attack when he started attacking you! That man's insane, and not in the good way! You're okay?" (He's always been such a worry wart)

The girl smiled at her dad, "I'm fine, Bol-Dad and Dad-Po thinks Xin Fu could kill me," She blew air from her mouth, "Like I could ever die" 

Toph sat stood in between Dad-Ko and Fire Dad, Dad-pher started speaking, "I can't believe they're both gonna fight him" 

"I know..." Dad Hunter said sadly, "I hope we don't lose our jobs!"

Toph sensed the fight had already begun. Dad-Po and Bol-Dad had made a good team, with Dad-Po being more of a defense and Bol-Dad at offence. The Hippo would stand in front of The Boulder, shielding from incoming attacks then The Boulder would crash through with a landslide of rock. 

Xin Fu was doing a great job considering it was two against one, even Toph had to admit he had some impressive skills (not as good as her dads, she had to tell herself). 

Their boss stomped heavily on the ground, a wall of thick rock surrounded the two, closing in on them fast. But the Hippo slammed his head against the closure, shattering it with ease.

They busted through it, and were ready to fight once again. Toph wasn't worried, nope, not at all. She wasn't scared what her Bol-Dad told her about Xin Fu being willing to kill a child (and if he was willing to do that, who's to say that he wouldn't try to kill her dads?). Or even worried that Dad-Ko called him insane either. Because her dads wouldn't get hurt, they'll beat him and then they'll all go home and she'll be able to play with Wander for a couple hours before going to bed and then going to school the next day like a regular kid. 

…

Okay, she was _extremely_ worried. But that doesn't mean she doubts either of their skills! They're some of the best Earthbenders in the world (right under her maybe). Toph believes they will win, they _have_ to win. Because if they don't, it would've been her fault and then they'll hate her forever and then she'll be alone again and she was _really_ liking having good parents. 

The Boulder burrowed under the ground (a trick he learned from Toph) and emerged right behind Xin Fu, his fist collided with his back and launched their boss forward and rammed right into The Hippo, who didn't flinch nor stumble when he hit into him. 

Xin Fu fell to the ground and the two stood in front of him, towering over the man, both wearing scarily serious expressions

"Give up?" 

"You wish" Xin Fu smirked as he slammed his hand onto the ground, the floor shook and turned, causing the two to lose their balance, falling over. 

Dad Hunter gasped, "He can't do that!" He grabbed Dad-pher by the shoulder and shook him, eyes glued to the arena, " _He can't do that!"_

" _He's cheating_ " Dad-Ko hissed

Of course he is! Of course he's cheating! That sore loser can't handle defeat so he'll twist it to make _sure_ he wins! Asshole! 

The Hippo and The Boulder both fell to their hands and knees, completely off balance now. Xin Fu grinned evilly, getting to his feet and glaring down at them. 

He slammed a slab of rock in their faces, causing them to fall on their backs, and Toph was pretty sure one of their noses had to be bleeding at this point. 

If he'll kill a kid, he has no problem killing an adult. 

He'll kill a kid.

He'll kill an adult.

He'll kill _them._

Toph's feet were moving before she had a chance to process anything more and all of a sudden she was back on the platform.

"Toph, go back. We're fine- _URGK!_ " Dad-Po was cut off by another rock getting chucked right into his gut

" _NO!"_ Toph dashed in front of her dads, ready to strike. But solid, hard Earth wasn't what was launched out to strike Xin Fu. 

_It was Fire._

A bright flame had shot out from her clenched fist and had nearly burnt Xin Fu. 

The crowd had gone silent.

Then murmurs were heard.

_'Did that kid just firebend?'_

_'Wasn't she Earthbending before?'_

_'Avatar'_

_'Avatar'_

_'Avatar'_

_'Avatar'_

" _Avatar_ " Xin Fu mumbled, completely awestruck. 

Toph blinked, she Firebent. She just _Firebent._ She felt her dads' heartbeats from behind her speed up in shock, they stayed frozen on the floor. Xin Fu's heart rate spiked, but for completely different reasons; he was angry- furious even. 

If she could Firebend _and_ she could Earthbend… 

Does that really mean- 

What the people were saying- 

She was the-

Suddenly, Toph was yanked forcefully into the air by the back of her shirt by him, he faced the audience, "Lifetime after lifetime of cowardice spirits, too weak to end the war and we, Earth Kingdom people, are gifted a glorious gift; _the next Avatar!_ After her previous lives have done _nothing_ to aid our people in times of crisis!" He shouted to the large stadium as Toph struggled to get out of his tight grasp, "Where was the Avatar when our people were forced into work camps?! Or when millions died, fighting a war that should have been prevented by the very being meant to bring peace?! The Avatars powers have been slowly dwindling, getting weaker and weaker with every rebirth. Now, we have a small, _blind_ Avatar meant to restore balance to the world? HA! Don't make me laugh!" He gave a hearty, mocking laugh, "I ask you, people of the Earth Kingdom, sufferers of the war; What should we do with her, with the _cursed Avatar?"_ Toph felt him raise her higher 

Okay, she knows she was just considering it before but now that you hear it out out loud... 

Nope, no way, not a chance in anything is _she_ the _Avatar_.

There had to be some misunderstanding, there's gotta be! Maybe some people can bend two elements? Maybe she has a Firebender in her family, maybe on her mother's side? There's gotta be an explanation! 

This was all happening too fast, what was even going on?! She couldn't even be sure, her feet weren't on the ground. So with no way to sense what was happening, she listened. 

People were booing and screaming, she heard things getting thrown. 

"Good answer!" She could just hear Xin Fu's smile with bared teeth 

Toph heard heavy footsteps and something being shoved onto the platform, scraping against the ground in a way that made her teeth clench, then she heard her fathers' shouts

"No! Please!" 

"What're you doing!?"

"Don't hurt her!"

"Let her go!" 

The girl felt herself get thrown into something, her back slamming against metal and the thundering _BAM_ of a door slamming. She stood up, feeling around. 

She couldn't sense in here. It was metal. A metal box. She was trapped. 

"HEY! Lemme out of here!" She slammed her fists against the cold, confined walls

The booing continued.

_"AS A PRICE FOR SENDING OUR WORLD INTO CHAOS, AVATAR, YOU SHOULD BE KILLED AT DAWN!"_

The crowd cheered and whistled.

Holy shit, what. No, no, nonononono. This wasn't meant to happen! Her dads were supposed to beat Xin Fu, and they were supposed to go home and she was supposed to be a normal kid! Not _die at dawn!_ She can't die, she _won't_ die! 

_"NO!_ Don't do this! She's just a kid!" She heard Fire Dad yell 

"She has nothing to do with what the other Avatars did! Please!" Dad-pher argued 

She held her breath from inside the box, the air felt thin, "You all better _shut up_ before we kill you too, harboring the Avatar all this time without telling a soul," Xin Fu hissed at her dads, "Get outta here before we kill her _now"_

She didn't hear any of her dads after that. 

"Let me out! I'm no Avatar! And even if I was, I'll just be reborn, idiots!" 

_BOOM!_

Xin Fu punched the box, shaking the whole foundation, " _SHUT UP!_ After we kill you, we'll just kill the next Avatar, and the next, and the next! Right up until the Avatar spirit dies out for _good!"_

Toph gulped. Dad-Ko was right, this guy really _was_ insane. 

_____________ 

Hours passed and Toph waited. Waiting for what? She didn't really know, but she knew that patience hasn't failed her yet and right now, it's the only thing she was able to hold onto to feel even slightly like herself. 

After the events from earlier had ended and Xin Fu finished capitalizing on the _event_ that will be happening at dawn tomorrow by selling tickets, he ordered the other wrestlers that Toph never bothered to learn the names of to string the box by a chain and suspend it up in the air as an extra precaution. And then they left for the night, going home to their families, feeling no remorse for trapping a child in a box, leaving her alone for the night and planning to kill her in the morning. 

Being trapped inside the small, metal box with nothing but silence for hours on end gave Toph some time to think at least. Once she got the panic out of her system, she felt strangely tranquil which allowed her to reflect. 

She went over this for the billionth time (she reached a million at around hour five). So what happened? Xin Fu, Bol-Dad, and Dad-Po were fighting. Xin Fu cheated, nearly killed her dads. Then she ran back to the platform and went to protect them, but instead of Earthbending, she Firebent.

And her Firebending meant that she could wield two elements. And her being able to wield two elements meant that she could wield all _four_ elements. And being able to wield all four elements meant she's the Avatar. And being the Avatar meant- oh, you get it. 

Toph tapped a finger against the floor of the metal, having sat down a long while ago on the acceptance that she would be here for a while. 

"Avatar huh?" Why did she need to be the Avatar? She got along just fine with Earthbending, why add more elements into the mix? She hugged her knees, curling in on herself into a small ball, leaning against the wall, "At least I won't have to deal with it for too long" That was a fact, she'll be dead by morning

Toph will be dead in the morning and it wasn't fair. She could fight but it wasn't fair. She's trapped and it wasn't fair. She's all alone, her parents are _gone_ and it wasn't fair. It wasn't fair, nothing was and it _sucked._ It sucked so much it was overwhelming. 

She wanted her dads, as childish as it sounded, she wanted them.

She wanted them so much right now. She wanted to hug them and when she's done hugging, get the _fuck_ out of Gaoling. 

Or be with Wander, he's probably wondering where she is right now. What if he's worried. Who's gonna chase him around when he has extra energy? Or brush his thick, coarse hair, who is he going to lick when he's happy? Toph wanted to hug his huge legs or his long face and tell him it's going to be okay. 

But she can't. She can't do anything. She can't hug her dads, or tell Wander it's okay, or fight or get out of this stupid fucking box. 

Her eyes burned with frustrated tears as she punched the metal walls.

_"Toph! Where are you?"_

The Avatar's ears perked up, was she hearing things wrong? Or did she just hear Dad-pher? She stayed quiet, in case she really was just having some auditory hallucination. 

… 

_"Toooooppphhh? Are you here?"_ Dad Hunter whispered next

Her grin spread across her entire face so wide that it probably covered 85% of her face, she stood up, knocking on the metal, "Dads! I'm here! In the box, up here!" She shouted, her knocking grew louder 

"Toph!" Dad-Ko exclaimed, he sounded so relieved 

"Hang on, we'll get you down!" Fire Dad shouted, then whispered to himself, _"There's probably a lever around here somewhere"_

"Ah! Am I glad to see you! Get me down from here!" 

After Fire Dad scrambled for the switch, the box was gradually lowered down until Toph felt it hit the ground. 

"Uh, you didn't see where they put the key by any chance?" Bol-Dad chuckled nervously as they surrounded the box 

Toph face palmed. Right, there was a key, she cursed under her breath. Dad-pher then spoke, "Don't worry, if we managed to sneak in here and get this far, I'm sure we can break the lock" 

She then proceeded to hear the sound of hard rock clashing against the thick lock of the metal. With every bang, she grew more and more anxious. What if they get caught? 

"When we get you-" Dad-Po started, as one of them continuously slammed what she assumed to be a rock against the metal

_CLANG_

"-Outta here, you need to _leave"_

_CLANG_

Toph smiled, pressing her face against the wall from the inside, eager to get let out, "I was thinking the same thing! We need to _leave_ Gaoling!" 

_CLANG_

"No, Toph. _Only you"_

_Thud_

The lock fell off and the door creaked open, Toph stepped out and felt the solid ground beneath her. 

_"What?"_

Their hearts were beating so slow. They were _achingly_ sad but she knew that they meant what they said. 

"We…" There was a long pause before Bol-Dad spoke, "We _can't_ come with you, Toph" 

"We want to! Believe me, but we can't" Dad-Po choked out. He was telling the truth. 

"Why can't you come?" Her voice so painstakingly calm although her thoughts were drastically the opposite.

Why couldn't they come? What happened? Did they not want her to be a part of their family now that they knew she was the Avatar? It was dangerous here, the people of Goaling were crazy!

She sensed Fire Dad kneel down to meet her level, placing both hands on either shoulder, "We have to stay and throw everyone off," His voice cracked and she wanted to hug him, "I know this is probably really confusing but listen _Toph,"_ He took a deep breath, struggling to get his voice under control, he was on the brink of sobbing, she didn't even need seismic sense to know that 

"Airbending's gone extinct. Firebenders would _kill_ for the chance to kill you, Fire is after Earth on the Avatar cycle, if you're gone, the Fire Nation'd be invincible if the next Avatar's on their side" He explained

Dad-Ko then continued for him, "...Your only chance is Waterbending! Go to the Northern Water Tribe, learn it from a _master_ " 

"You're an _incredible_ Earthbender, with Earth and Water on your side, you'd be strong enough to make some difference in this world, to stop the Fire Nation" Bol-Dad said 

Toph blinked and shook her head. She jerked her shoulders away from Fire Dad's grasp but immediately regretted it, she already missed the contact, it was her only anchor, "I don't understand. Why can't you come? It's dangerous here! They'll hurt you guys"

"Not if you're gone," Dad-pher said, "When they find out you're missing, we'll tell them you escaped and went to the Southern Water Tribe. By the time anyone gets there, you'd already be up North learning Waterbending" 

But how would she even get here? What if someone finds out? What if people get violent and hurt her dads? What would happen after she learns It? What if no one will teach her?! 

Toph forced the tears back from her eyes and swallowed hard, this wasn't fair. They could get hurt. Her dads were risking everything, lying to violent, _dangerous_ people just to help her out. But they didn't care one bit, they just wanted her to be strong.

She'll be strong. She _has to._

Dad-Po grinned, "Once you master Water, come back here to Goaling. We won't be going anywhere till you come back!" 

It won't be forever. She had to keep telling herself that. She'll master Water and they can plan from there. Fuck, this is gonna be hard. She bit her lip, squeezing her eyes shut, she won't cry. 

_She won't cry. She won't. She won't. She-_

She felt herself enveloped in six pairs of secure but shaky arms. She froze. She heard the silent sobs of her fathers. This was as hard for them as it was for her. She clenched her arms around them with all her strength and cried into their embrace. 

This was going to be hard. Hard and so, _so_ lonely. 

"Take Wander with you. You guys can burrow all the way North together. I know it isn't the same as all of us going but at least you'll have him" Toph felt herself nod, her voice temporarily out of commission

"We'll be waiting for you, _Avatar_ "

________________

" _Woah…_ So it was your dads' idea for you to go to the Northern Water Tribe?" Sokka asked, his voice just barely above a whisper 

Toph nodded, "That was the plan. Go there, master Water then go back to Gaoling. They… They were waiting there for me. But now they're _gone,"_ She clenched her fists, gaze fixed down on the ground, " _And I'm still here_ . _I_ screwed up. _I_ went the wrong way and ended up in the Southern Tribe. They _tried_ protecting me by telling that Fire Nation weirdo that I was South thinking I went North. Maybe if I didn't go- or if I didn't screw up- or-or _something_ , they'd still be alive. They're dead because of _me!"_

"Toph, you know that isn't true. You didn't know, there was nothing you could've done to prevent… _that"_ Katara tried reassuring the Avatar

Toph stood up, growing angry, "Was there Katara, _was there?!_ I could've done so _much._ I could've _stayed!_ I should've known better, I should've told them to _leave_ Gaoling, I knew the people there would spread the word about the Avatar!" She paced back and forth, stomping so hard the ground shook, Wander was starting to wake up, "It would've just been a matter of time before the Fire Nation would come! But I left anyway, like a-a-a a _coward, I'm a coward!"_ She screamed in pure rage 

She was horrible, she was fucked up and terribly selfish! Now her parents were _dead_ because of _her_ . It's all her fault. _All her fault. All her fault. All her fault. All her-_

Sokka felt a breeze which was weird because they were inside a cave.

_Oh no._

His eyes widened, getting to his feet and yanking Katara up with him. 

The torch planted into the ground suddenly blew out and it was pitch black. They could barely see in front of them, it was so dark. He could only barely make out the faint outline of Toph. 

_Then her eyes began glowing._

_Oh no. Again._

"Toph, calm down. Remember what happened the last time your parents were mentioned!" He shouted, cupping his hands around his mouth in an effort to speak over the howling winds that their friend had no control over 

But Toph said nothing, Wander let out a long whine and jumped in front of Sokka and Katara, sensing the danger and their spiking heart rates. 

The Avatar floated up in the air, floating in the middle of the cave. Her hands ignited into a burst of flames as the wind hurled rocks and chunks of cave in all directions. 

The badgermole Earthbent a short barrier of rock around the Water Tribe siblings so they could hold onto and hide behind. Sokka shouted over the winds, "It's her Avatar Spirit! She must have triggered it again!" 

"I'm gonna try and calm her down! Stay here!" Katara said before pushing herself through the forceful gusts of air

" _What?!_ Katara, no! _Katara!"_ Sokka yelled, struggling to follow her but ended up getting blown backwards into the walls 

Katara rolled herself to move forward, getting closer and closer to where Toph levitated, nearly getting crushed by giant slabs of rock several times. 

" _Toph! I know you're upset! And I know how hard it is to lose the people you love! We went through the same thing when we lost our mom!"_ Katara continued to fight for her voice to be heard, " _You're parents may be gone but you're not alone! You still have a family. Me and Sokka and Wander and even the rest of the Southern Water Tribe! And we're never, ever gonna leave you!"_

After Katara finished, she didn't talk for a long while. She just waited, listening to the harsh sound of the wind blowing and feeling her hair flow and graze past her face. 

She watched intently at the two glowing orbs in the dark continued floating in the air...

Then slowly lowered.

Toph began descending downwards and the glow in her eyes slowly faded away. The harsh wind stopped blowing and the fire in her hands extinguished into smoke.

The Avatar fell to the ground and Katara ran up to her small body, "Toph! Are you okay?" 

The girl sat upright and Katara could make out her shaking silhouette. 

"Is everyone okay?" Sokka asked, rushing up to them and relighting the torch. Katara could now see the Earthbender properly. Toph rubbed her eyes, roughly wiping away tears.

"Toph?" She repeated

Suddenly, Toph securely wrapped her strong arms around her, squeezing her as tight as she could. Katara was frozen for a moment, processing her actions before she quickly returned the hug. 

"I'm sorry-" 

"Don't apologize," Sokka knelt down next to them, "Katara's right. You may have lost your parents but you still have us, and we're not going anywhere" 

The Waterbender smiled, pulling back a bit to look at Toph, " _Yeaaaah_ , you're pretty much stuck with us at this point" 

Toph laughed a little, hunching over and wiping her eyes, " _Great._ Just what I wanted, two _amazing_ Water Tribe lackeys to follow me around everywhere" 

Sokka crossed his arms, "I _am_ pretty amazing!" The two girls began laughing, "HEY! What's so funny?!" 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: when I was first coming up with this AU, this was the first chapter I wrote! I decided to make it an Avatar! Toph AU and I figured I shouldn't start with Toph's origins right away to add some mystery!
> 
> And YES I did make the Earth Rumble line up team Toph's dads. Lao and Poppy rub me the wrong way, they were ableist and literally sent men to KIDNAP her, I really dont like them.
> 
> Be sure to check out the promo art for this chapter on tumblr, thecursedavatar! I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments, new chapters every Friday!!


	4. Reform and Rebirth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The three continue their adventure to the Northern Water Tribe but make a quick stop at the Southern Air Temple which brings forth plenty of learning experiences.

It was silent in the Southern Air Temple. Years of war has left it quiet, empty, and destroyed for a century. The Fire Nation left no statue standing and no Airbender uncooked. Here, on the high mountains of the South, sat the ruins of tragedy, loss culture and genocide. Fog overtook the area because of the altitude but all it did was stay as a reminder of the element no longer bendable to those who did not hold the Avatar spirit. 

The low noises were all that was heard in the deserted place, made by the life that had claimed it as their own, Earth having long overtook the area as well.

Cutting through the silence like a knife was the thunderous booming of rock crumbling. Wander had emerged out from the ground, Toph by his side and Sokka and Katara on his back. The three kept their Water Tribe parkas on, the elevation making it _very_ cold. 

Sokka was the first to hop off the badgermole, his feet hitting the stone floor and taking in a nice, big breath of air, allowing his lungs to fill to their maximum capacity, " _Ahh!_ Fresh air, oh how I missed you!" 

"Oh you're a baby, there's plenty of air underground," Toph said, laughing as Wander began shaking the dirt off his fur, "Why did we even stop anyway? Shouldn't we, you know, be trying to get across the _world_ right now?" 

Katara rolled her eyes, "No offence, Toph but _you and Wander_ might be okay with living off _bugs_ and _rocks_ but frankly, it's gross. We wanna find some actual food" 

"Yeah because unlike _you,_ we actually care about what we put in our body" Sokka interjected 

Toph stopped her head, huffing, " _Alright,_ you guys go find your fruit or whatever," She began smiling, turning to Wander, "Me and Wander are gonna have a look around. I've never been to one of the _actual_ Air Temples before, come on Wander!"

Toph put her hands behind her head and began leisurely walking off in the direction opposite of which they came, Wander following suit at an equally steady pace. Which left Sokka and Katara alone. 

"Here Katara," Was Sokka's only heads up before he threw his dirty, mud covered boots at Katara, to which she had barely caught, "Clean these while I go look for some food" 

Katara frowned her brow, already foreseeing where this was going and not liking it one _bit_ , "Why am _I_ always the one who has to clean your dirty shoes? Why can't you do it yourself?" 

"Because, my dear sister," Sokka started while confidently pulling out his boomerang, " _I'm_ the boy, and _you're_ the girl!"

The Waterbender saw red and pondered what it would be like to be an only child for a moment, "And what's _that_ supposed to mean?" 

"It _means_ that _I'm_ the hunter. I hunt and you clean! Those are the birth roles for men and women" 

"That's not fair. You get to hunt because you're a boy but I have to clean because I'm a girl?!"

"First of all, I'm a _man_ , not a boy. And second," He smiled, "I know, I know. Not fair. But that's just how things are," Sokka began walking away, going to find something to eat and declaring the conversation over, "The sooner you realize it, the easier you're life'll be," Then quirky remarked to himself, " _Maybe some guy'll actually marry you. Heh, what a thought"_

The Water Tribe girl marched up to him and jerked him around so fast he nearly got whiplash, "What's _wrong_ with you?! How could you say that, Sokka!?" She screamed at him, pointing an accusing finger at his chest, "I've put up with your sexist _bullshit_ all my life; I have to sew _your_ stupid pants, wash _your_ smelly socks _and_ I have to _clean your_ dirty shoes!? All because I'm a _woman?!"_

Sokka blinked, looking down at his sister

...

"Yeah, pretty much" 

_"RAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"_

  
  
  
  


The Avatar and the badgermole didn't wander too far from the siblings, in case there was an emergency, but far enough to be able to do some _actual_ exploring without being interrupted.

They roamed through the inside of one of the dozens of abandoned houses that littered the mountain that housed the Airbenders nearly 100 years ago. 

"This place is beautiful," Toph commented, running her fingers along the wall. Parts of the roof were missing, and one of the walls was gone, as if blown clean off the foundation. Moss grew in every crack and corner and although so many have died, she could feel all the movement- all the _life_ all around. The plants, the animals, even the littlest bugs, they all had made this their home and they're integral parts of the temple now, "I'm sure it was a lot different when the Airbenders were still around…" 

There was a statue in the center of the room, it was of a sitting man. His eyes were closed and he looked to be meditating. Time and trauma had worn the rock down and it looked to be falling apart, Toph walked up to it and let her fingers roam it. 

"This is Avatar Gyatso, the Airbending Avatar before Avatar Kuruk. I heard about him in school, he was raised here" She paused for a moment 

How did she know that? There was no name tag (even if there was, she wouldn't have been able to read it).

_Weird_.

"He was there when the war started. He thought he could just wait it out and tried to end things peacefully... But it didn't work, the Fire Nation killed all the air nomads during the comet" 

Wander made a sound and pressed his head against her back, "It wasn't his fault that he didn't wanna use violence. He was practicing what he was taught," Toph said, "He didn't know his decision would make all the Airbenders go extinct" 

She remembered her teacher bashing Gyatso, that he should have fought, to face the situation head on- _like an Earthbender._ Earthbending requires facing things but they also _wait and think_ . A _good_ Earthbender doesn't run into battle head first. Gyatso did what he thought was right, it isn't fair for people to blame him for the war. 

Toph slammed her heel onto the ground and in a puff of dust, Avatar Gyatso's statue was back together and looking as good as it did when it was first finished. 

She smiled at her work, patting him on the chest, "There you go, Gyatso," She gave a wide, toothy grin, "Good as new! What do you think, Wander?" 

The badgermole gave a loud, long yawn. Toph laughed before getting interrupted by a blood curdling scream of a girl. And not just any girl, _Katara._

Toph jumped and scurried out the small, three walled home and back to where she and Wander had left the siblings. 

"What happened?! Are you guys hurt or some-" Toph's worry filled questions when she reached the two were unheard as Katara gave Sokka the worst verbal beating in history.

"SOKKA, WHAT IS _WRONG_ WITH YOU?! DO YOU DO THIS TO MAKE EVERYONE AROUND YOU UPSET OR ARE YOU JUST THAT STUPID?" The Waterbender screeched at her brother, who had sat down on the ground, looking rather bored, "AND ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO A _WORD_ I'M SAYING?! I CAN'T _BELIEVE_ YOU, YOU'RE UNBEARABLE!" 

"What's got your water boiling this time, Teapot?" Toph asked, sealing the distance between her and them and standing right in front of Katara 

" _Sokka_ is what has my water boiling! He's being such _a-a-a,"_ Katara balled her fists and puffed out her cheeks, "An _idiot!_ He keeps saying sexist _bullshit!"_

Sokka stands up, finally about to defend himself now that someone _logical_ is here (and definitely _won't_ disagree with him, "All I'm saying is that men are stronger, faster and better at doing _certain_ things compared to women! I'm not saying women aren't good at things- they are!" He shouted, "But it's just the natural order of things; men hunt and women cook and clean!" 

Toph raised an eyebrow, "Annnnd where'd you learn that? _Readings for Dummies?"_

"It's a scientifically _proven_ fact! Come on, Toph. Don't tell me you're on _Katara's_ side on this. You had _six dads!_ Who were _wrestlers!"_ The boy flapped his arms in an exaggerated way in an effort to get his message across, "Look, how about this; it's like how men wear their _manly wolf tails_ ," Sokka deepened his voice for the last part, sounding more gruff, "And how girls wear their _pretty headbands!"_ His voice was now higher and he lightly tapped a finger on Toph's headband 

The Earthbender pouted, touching the headband on her head, "My dads gave me this! For when I won my tenth championship in Earth Rumble"

"Woah, really? _Tenth?_ How many have you won?" Katara's mouth hung open in awe 

Sokka blew air from his mouth, " _Pshh,_ all show. The only reason you can fight is because you're a bender. And face it, you may be the Avatar but you're _nothing_ without your bending, you're still a girl!"

Katara jumped in front of Sokka and Toph, protecting the Earthbender, " _SOKKA!_ That's not true! Toph may be a girl but she's so much more than just her bending-!" The Waterbender would have said more but was cut short

"Nah, he's right, Katara," Toph lightly pushed Katara aside and stood tall in front of the boy, "I _am_ nothing without Earthbending, it's my way of seeing and I dunno _where_ I'd be without it. Or if I wasn't taught it by the badgermoles but," Toph grabbed Sokka's arm, yanking him down to meet her level, she grinned like a wild animal, "I can _still_ kick your ass any day of the week, _with or without it"_

Continuing to hold his arm with a vice grip, in one swift motion, Toph raised her arm and pointed with her free hand to the left. Sokka and Katara both turned their head in the direction but saw nothing but fog, they looked at her curiously.

"There's an open area a couple hundred feet away," She explained before shoving his arm away and stomping off, " _Let's go"_

________________

Somewhere along the South Coast of the Earth Kingdom stood Zuko and Iroh. They were standing on the docks inside an Earth Kingdom village, watching as nearly 100 men performed repairs on their busted ship, which had obviously not been recovered since the events in the Southern Water Tribe. 

Zuko's right eye was dark and swollen and his arm was placed in a sling. He wore a face that held great contempt, "I was so close, Uncle. _So close_ to killing the Avatar" 

"You were, Prince Zuko. You should count yourself lucky that she had spared your life" The old man said 

Zuko scoffed, turning his head, "I'm _never lucky"_

He should have gotten her. It wasn't fair, _that_ was his chance. _That_ was his chance to go home. He was too weak, she was blind _and_ an Earthbender in the _South Pole._ He had the advantage but... 

He still lost. Lost to a _child._ To a _tiny, blind child._

When the ship is fixed, they will set off once again, searching for the Avatar. She probably won't stay in the Southern Water Tribe. She could be anywhere, but Zuko had already spent three years searching, a little more time won't kill him. If anything, he's more fueled than ever, having had her practically slip through his fingers. 

But next time will be different. Next time he will be prepared, next him he will be ready. He will kill her, he'll kill the Avatar and-

"Oh hello there, _Zuko_ ," A voice called from behind the two, "Funny seeing you here in this backwash Earth Kingdom colony"

The two Firebenders turned around, and- 

Oh _great,_ it was _Zhao_. 

The two watched as the man confidently strided up to them. As if Zuko's week couldn't get _any worse,_ He frowned, " _Zhao"_ He pressed a closed fist against the base of his open hand, bowing in respect, Iroh did the same. 

"Actually, it's _admiral Zhao_ now, I've been appointed as of last month. And a year earlier than I expected" 

Zuko growled, clenching his fists, as Iroh smiled, "Congratulations, Admiral Zhao" 

"Thank you, General Iroh," He bowed before opening his eyes, "Oh! Have you heard? The Earthbending Avatar has been found," He said in surprise but judging from his tone, he was faking it. He probably came here to make fun of Zuko, "From Gaoling, and have you heard she's _blind?"_ He barked a laugh, "She will be dead in no time! The next Avatar will be born into the Fire Nation in no time, the spirits must be working with us to gift such a _gloriously sad_ excuse for the spirit of the world. Perhaps you will be able to return home after all, _Prince_ Zuko"

"I _will_ be going home, _Admiral Zhao._ I will find the Avatar, kill her and present her body to my Father. He will welcome me back with open arms" 

"Oh of course, of course," Zhao waved his hand calmly, " _Unless…_ Someone kills the Avatar _before_ you get the chance that is..." 

Zuko and Zhao stare at each other. _What did he mean by that?_

He watched the man's smirk pick up. Was he suggesting that _he_ was going to kill the Avatar? No! Zuko's blood began boiling at the mere _thought_ of it. His only chance to return home, _to restore his honor_...

Could be _gone._

_No,_ he can't let that happen, he _won't._

"Well, I should be going now. I'll leave you to let your ship undergo repairs," He began walking away, once he was a couple feet away, He stopped, not turning back around, " _Say…_ How did this happen anyway? Hadn't you gone to the Southern Water Tribe? My, I recall you leaving rather quickly," He prattled on, "You wanna hear something funny? I heard from these Earth Kingdom peasants that the _Avatar went South_ . Did you…? _No. Surely_ if you would have _seen_ the Avatar, you would have _easily_ overpowered and _killed_ her. Your boat must have hit a glacier, _am I correct?"_

Zuko stayed silent, his lips pursing onto a thin line. This _bastard..._

He knew what he was saying, He knew what he was _implying._ Zhao is calling him weak, calling him _incapable_ of this task. He _isn't._ He _can_ kill the Avatar and he'll do _it before Zhao._

"Yes, a glacier. We must be more careful next time. Have a good day, _Admiral Zhao"_ Zuko heard his Uncle say but he was so consumed by anger to process it

"You too. And I wish you both the best of luck on your Avatar hunt" 

_Fuck Zhao_.

________________

Toph led Sokka and Katara to the expansive domain of the Air Temple. The terrain was wide and flat, with only a few battered and beaten pillars scattered about and broken wooden posts sticking out of the ground, trees with few leaves dotted around, not enough to get in the way. 

Wander walked off to the side and sat down, his tail slightly wagging. 

Toph took off her parka, revealing her Earth Kingdom attire, "Get your coat off, Warrior. Unless you're more comfortable fighting with it on" 

Sokka and Katara blinked, "I'm sorry, _fight?"_ Sokka repeated 

Toph nodded, "You say that boys are stronger than girls, so let's fight. I won't use any bending, it'll be a clean fight," She handed her jacket to Katara, "Can you hold this for me please?" 

Katara nodded, wrapping her arms around the coat, "I could fight him if you want" 

The Earthbender laughed, "Thanks but I got it" 

" _HEY!_ Don't I get a say in this?!" The boy squealed while shedding his extra layers

"Are you saying you _don't_ wanna fight me?"

"No, that's not what I'm saying! It's just that-" 

"Sounds to me like you're making excuses, what're you? Scared?" 

_"I'M NOT SCARED!"_ Sokka stomped 

" _Oooo_ , someone's angry now," Toph smiled, "Let's raise the stakes then; Loser does anything the winner says!"

"That's stupid, I'm not-" Sokka desisted, raising an eyebrow and scratching his chin, " _Anything_ the winner says?" 

Toph nodded confidently, her face beaming with determination, "Yep, anything!" 

"Soooooo, if I asked you to _-oh, I dunno-_ Run around in your underwear, you'd do it?"

"Ew!" Katara piped up

"That's the rules" Toph nodded

"What about carry me everywhere?"

"Yep"

"Even clean my dirty boots?" 

"Yes Sokka, even clean your dirty boots," The Avatar shook her head, "Is that a yes?" 

"Alright but don't cry when I beat you up," Sokka smirked, stretching his arms, "I'll have you know that I'm the best warrior in my Tribe and under different circumstances, I wouldn't ever beat up a kid," 

Toph stood there, her feet planted firmly on the ground and arms raised and lined up with her shoulders. Sokka was now lunging, "But just to prove to you that men are stronger than women, I guess I could- _HIYAAAA!"_

Sokka cut himself off mid sentence, dashing up to the short girl in a surprise attack, his arm raised as he was close to her. As he went to strike, Toph caught his arm, swiveling him around and shoving him back. 

The boy stumbled a few feet but refused to fall. Spinning on his heel, he charged towards her again, " _HAAAAAA!"_ Toph leaped out of the way, causing Sokka to continue running forward, tripping and falling over a fallen pillar, "Oof!"

"Go Toph!" Katara cheered, standing next to Wander 

Sokka lifted himself up, "YOU'RE NOT HELPING!" 

Toph's main moves seem to consist of waiting for the enemy to strike first and reacting accordingly which is a good technique considering she is so adaptable and has much more experience than he. But Sokka has one thing over her that she will _never_ have... 

_Height!_

He barreled towards her again, when she went to lift her hands to defeat his attack, instead of striking, he grabbed her from under her arms, successfully lifting her in the air, "AH HA!" He shouted 

Toph growled, her fists balling and kicked him square in the jaw. This action caused him not only to drop the tiny Avatar but it also knocked him back a few steps.

"You surprised me. That wasn't half bad" Toph complimented as Sokka glared at her, hunched over and rubbing his mouth 

"I have plenty of more where that came from!" 

"Oh yeah? Well so do I!" 

They continued fighting and Katara watching with intensity, not daring to look away for a second. She wanted Toph to win, to _prove_ that to Sokka that girls are just as capable as boys. She just couldn't believe they had to _beat_ the sexism out of him. 

Sokka pounced at her again, swiftly throwing punch after punch that Toph continued to dodge and avoid every time with a practiced grace. Using the momentum of his last punch, Sokka shifted his body weight towards the sky, lifting his leg and pushing forward for a powerful kick. 

No more punches, he had her now. He's gonna win for sure- 

She caught his leg, her fingers digging into his pants with the might of a thousand men. 

He looked at her, face blank. And she looked up at him.

She smiled. 

The next thing Sokka knew, his whole world was turned upside down and he was laying flat on the hard, dirty ground. He was dizzy, his head hurt and his back ached. 

Toph just… 

_Flipped him. She flipped him!_ As in, carrying his entire body weight and basically throwing him. She _threw_ him! 

The 12 year old stood over him, "People can hunt and cook and clean and wear dumb ponytails or headbands no matter their gender," She said, holding a hand out to help Sokka up to which he annoyedly accepted, "It's stupid to try and _assign_ survival skills based on it instead of doing it based on _actual_ skills" 

" _Yeah yeah..._ " He pouted

Katara jogged up to them and beamed at Toph, "Toph! That was amazing! You should teach _me_ how to fight like that!" 

Sokka grumbled, "So what're you gonna make me do?" He sighed, "Eat my own underwear? Swim in a frozen lake? Sit on a bed of nails?" 

"Oh yeah, what _are_ you gonna make Sokka do?" Katara had nearly gotten the bet

Toph grinned, "I got it, hang on a sec!" She ran over to where Wander was sitting, her bag lay next to him and she dug through it for a moment, the siblings walked over to her, peering over her shoulder in her search for something inside. She exclaimed when she found whatever it was that she was looking for

Toph stood, shoving a brush and paper into his lanky arms, "Since you lost, you need to write me an entire _page_ on _why_ women are just as capable of doing things like hunting and fighting as men are" 

"Aw _what?!"_ Sokka whined, "Wait, why do you even _have_ this stuff? You can't write!"

"I brought it in case I got someone to write letters back home for me, now get writing!" Toph started to walk away putting her coat back on, "Come on Waterbug, let's go explore more of the temple while Sokka finishes his homework" 

Katara laughed and the two began walking away. Sokka huffed, grumbling to himself as he plopped down next to Wander, who was laying down still, he looked at him, " _You're_ with me on this at least, aren't you Wander?" 

Wander huffed and turned around.

Sokka began writing.

________________

The two benders roamed the Air Temple, looking over the edge to admire the breathtaking view (Toph said it wasn't that great) and examine and inspect the incredibly detailed, intricate states of Airbenders.

"I can't believe this place hasn't been touched in _100 years"_ Katara spoke at one point as the two drifted through a long, open hallway

Plant life grew from the cracks on the stone floor and there were no walls, though, it looked as though there were never any, allowing for the sun to shine through, as if to further display the sacred beauty of the statues that lined the walls. 

"Yeah, it's crazy" 

They continued their walk down the vast corridor until they reached a door. A great, heavy door created entirely out of metal, it stood tall, almost proud of its size. Complex networks of tubes and pipes stuck onto the front, which connected to two thick plates with the Airbending symbol carved into it. 

"What is it?" Toph asked, already beginning to run her hands over the pipes, "My feet can't see it" 

  
  


"It's a… _door._ A _huge_ door, with these tubes or something on it," Katara struggled at explaining it (spirits she was bad at this), "Wait actually, it's one _long_ pipe, it just bends and turns a lot. The ends of either side are facing us" 

"Huh," The Earthbender clicked her tongue, "Weird" She firmly placed the flat of her hands on the door. When she tried to push open the doors, they didn't even budge. She pushed harder, forcing all her weight onto the door but nothing. It wouldn't open. Toph continued shoving with all her strength. 

"Why don't you lodge the door open with your Earthbending?" Katara finally asked after enjoying the funny sight for a minute

"This is _ancient_ -" Toph huffed, continuing to push, "-Sight and I'm _not_ gonna disrespect the Earth here like that," Her arms dropped and took a step back, "But don't worry, I'll get it open" 

The Waterbender examined the ends of both pipes for a second. She walked backwards a couple feet before inspecting it as a bigger picture rather than in fine details. The pipes are the same and they connect to those little Airbending symbol thingys. _Maybe..?_

"Maybe you have to Airbend air into the holes in order for the doors to open?" She spitballed, "This _is_ an _Air_ Temple" 

Toph snapped her fingers, her scrunched up face from before smoothed into joy, "That makes sense. I'll give it a go," She rubbed her hands together, "This should be easy enough," Her hands shot out forward in closed fists, " _Airbend!"_

Nothing. 

Not even a breeze. 

"Annnnnd _Airbend!"_

… 

" _Airbend!"_

"I don't think it works like that, Toph" 

The 12 year old whipped around, face tinged a tad red in embarrassment, "Well I've never Airbent before!" 

"Sure you have, when you were in the Avatar State. All that wind and stuff, you even did it in a cave deep underground," Toph grumbled that it doesn't count and Katara put a hand on her shoulder, "Course it counts. I know you could do it," She smiled at her, "Just think, if Earth is the opposite of Air in the same way that Fire is the opposite of Water, do the opposite of Earthbending"

Toph squinted, " _Opposite of Earthbending..?_ Fine, I'll _try_ , but don't expect much" She stood in front of the doors again

Okay, deep breath. Feet firmly placed on the- wait _opposite of Earthbending._ Toph relaxed her posture, fuck this was hard. So no strong movements? Just… _breezy_ (she doesn't think that would be the right word to describe it but it's all she's got right now). Or maybe light? Toph heard that Airbenders were able to maneuver through the air like leaves, laughing at gravity. But how could she laugh at gravity if she _needs_ gravity? 

Toph turned her head, "How much do you want this door open right now?" 

"More than anything in the entire world" Toph knew it was a lie. But Katara's heart was in the right place, She was trying to push her and she could respect that 

She groaned and took some weight off her feet, shifting it more into her _positive attitude_ (an Airbender would have appreciated that). " _HRAA!"_ She howled, charging up to the door, every cell in her body screaming at her to break the door open with her head or with her feet or her fists or anything but she ignored it. 

Dashing up to the door and coming to an abrupt halt, she raised her arms and opened her hands. She felt… _warmer_ as a small gust of wind came from her (nothing big, actually it was very, _very_ small but it _was_ something).

It blew into the pipes and a loud, heavy click had emitted from the metal. Perhaps the door had taken pity on a little baby Airbender and not the Avatar, connector of territories and bringer of peace. 

Toph stood still for a long while. She… _did it._ Like _actually did it._ Holy crap, "Holy crap" 

" _Tooooph!_ You did it! You Airbent!" Katara cheered, rushing up to wrap her arms around the small girl, "I told you you could! Can you do it again?"

"Uh, maybe" Toph felt as Katara untangled her arms from around her. She took a deep breath and relaxed her stance; same as before. Then she allowed her arms to travel in the air for a moment before finally pushing down on gravity with an open palm and-! 

_Nothing._

Toph groaned. 

"Don't worry, we'll get it again. I know it" _Truth._ At least Katara believed in her 

The Waterbender grabbed her hand and began walking to the door, "Come on, we should be celebrating. We got the door open, let's go inside!" 

"Whatever's in there better be worth it" 

________________

Sokka stayed where he was in the flat, open area of where he and Toph fought. He leaned against Wander's large, resting body as he scribbled down words for his stupid essay, wearing the anger of a sore loser. 

"I still can't believe that little pebble beat me, and without her dumb bending too," He spoke aloud to Wander, he groaned, "She probably cheated anyway. Her whole foot sense or seismic sense or _whatever_ sense helped her win"

The badgermole let out a low groan and the boy winced, "Right. Sorry sorry, I know she's your best friend. It just…" Sokka paused, trying to find the right words, " _Annoys_ me that a _girl_ beat me! I mean- if a girl can beat me, I have to be pretty weak, right?"

Silence followed. He supposed Wander was just listening, "Well, said girl _is_ an ex wrestler. Toph said her dads were always so proud of how strong she was _but…_ " Sokka clenched his fist around his brush so hard that any more pressure and it would snap in two, "Didn't they care that she was stronger than them? Weren't they embarrassed that she was able to beat them _over and over again?_ It just doesn't make sense!" 

Wander gently rested his giant chin on Sokka's head, his eyes closed. 

Sokka froze, "I mean, say that the girls _are_ right and it _is_ stupid to assign roles to boys and girls- I'm not saying it _is!_ This is _just_ a hypothetical- if it _is…_ What does that make me? What am I if I'm not a warrior? _Who_ am I if I'm not a man, a man who's gonna help my dad fight in the war one day? My whole life, I wanted to just protect my village, protect my _family_ and I thought that was because I was a guy. But maybe," He paused again, the clogs in his brain finally clicking, "Maybe it's _not_ , maybe it's because I care? Maybe it's because I love my Tribe? Maybe…"

" _Maybe it's because I'm me?"_

Woah. 

Sokka felt his world turn upside down like when Toph flipped him. What if he _was_ wrong? What if he doesn't act like a man, he acts like himself? And all the things he cares about isn't because he's a boy? If that's the case, then he's been a huge grade-A fucking asshole. Spirits, no wonder Toph and Katara wanted to kill him.

Oh no, what if they hate him now? When if they make him write stupid essays for the rest of his life? Or what if they don't talk to him anymore?! He doesn't want that, they might be really, _really_ annoying but Sokka would never wanna give them up, _either_ of them! Shit, he really screwed up, they probably hate him much-

Sokka was forced out of his thoughts by Wander, he licked the back of his head causing his hair to stick up on end, "EW, _WANDER!_ Gross! _"_

Maybe Wander was trying to tell him something, to not worry. That he still has time. Time to apologize, time to make things right. All he has to do is wait: patience is key. 

The Water Tribe boy took a deep breath, "Right… _Patience…_ "

________________

The doors opened with a heavy, long creek when the two walked inside and- _holy shit._

It was _much_ larger on the inside compared to how it appeared on the outside. Dark, milky light had peeked through from the small holes in the ceiling, illuminating the _thousands upon thousands_ of standing, human sized statues. They reached all the way up to the ceiling, and lined their way down the dwindling slide until they reached the center of the room, where they formed a circle that was beginning to close in on itself. 

"Woah _…"_ Katara admired the sight of the Inner Sanctuary, "Who are all these people?" 

"I dunno but... I feel like I know them somehow?" Toph drifted off, her fingers touching one of the thousands of statues, her face twisted with lost recognition. She's definitely known these people before but where? They feel like a dream you can't remember

Katara looks up at one of the statues, "Hey look, this one's an Airbender," She glanced at the others surrounding her, "Wait, they're lined up in a pattern; Air, Water, Earth, Fire" She listed, pointing to a person of their respective element"

"The Avatar cycle?" Toph's eyes widened, "Are these… _Avatars?"_ Sure, she known that the Avatar has been around since forever but Toph could never have imitated there being so _many_

"Oh yeah! When the Avatar dies, they get reincarnated into the next element," While Katara continued speaking, Toph found her way to the center of the room, where the most recent on the cycle was, she stood in front of a tall man with broad shoulders and a confident smile on his face. He wore a Polarbear Dog skin hat,

"These are your past lives, _all of them!"_

Toph stayed standing in front of him. He was _really_ tall, nearly as tall as the other Avatar she felt, the Earthbending woman (just a little shorter than her though, man that woman was _big_ ). His smile had picked up more on one side than the other, he was happy -or at least, _seemed to be._

She felt Katara behind her, "Who's that?" 

"Avatar Kuruk, the Waterbending Avatar" Toph spoke almost automatically, surprising herself

He was the one before her, she was _his_ successor. All these Avatars, they were all her in the way she was all of them. Avatar Kuruk, no matter how big, or tall, or older he is than her, they were the same person. It's like how soft dirt and hard rock are the ssame because they're all earth, they're made up of all the same stuff, just in different ways. She supposed in this case the similarity was sharing the Avatar spirit.

"Wow, how'd you know that? Or what he looked like?"

The Earthbender shrugged, "I dunno, I saw a statue of Avatar Gyatso before and I knew it was him too," Toph shook her head, "I'm getting all kinds of weird feelings. Let's go check if Sokka finished his essay" 

The next thing Katara knew, Toph grabbed her hand and dragged her out of the Sanctuary 

________________

"Soooookkkkkkaaaa! That paper better be finished!" 

"GUYS!" Sokka exclaimed, running up to the two benders who were slowly making their way into sight. He squeezed them tight, grinning as he pulled back, "I didn't finish it- in fact I didn't even start it-"

"What-"

" _BUT_ I _did_ get us some fruit!" Sokka lifted a small animal skinned bag and shook it slightly

"You did the _one thing_ that made you and Katara right in the _first place_ and _didn't_ do the thing that I told you to do?" Toph asked

Katara shook her head, "Sokka, why didn't you-" 

"Why didn't I complete my essay and got food instead? Good question, to be honest- I ended up drawing a picture on the paper instead _and_ I needed to waste some time waiting for you two to come back because Wander taught me a very important lesson!" 

"How to replace your diet with dirt and bugs?"

"No!" Sokka lifted the sheet of paper to their faces, "Here's the picture by the way. It's all of us! You, me, Toph and Wander! We're all holding hands" 

He handed Katara the paper and she raised an eyebrow, "Who's the yellow guy?" 

"That's the sun!" 

"He has a face" 

"Yeah! 

… 

"I think it looks great!" Toph grinned 

"Thank you, Toph- wait, ARUGH WHY DO YOU DO THAT?!" Sokka screamed before clearing his throat, " _Anyway,_ Wander taught me that nothing is _tied_ to gender. People do things and people _say_ it's for boys or girls, which is wrong!" He smiled, "Boys can draw, girls can fight, because we're people, not roles. And we shouldn't have to force others to treat the opposite gender with respect, they should be doing that already!

…

"And… _Wander_ taught you this?" Katara reinforced, "Not maybe, I dunno… _Me_ ? Or the girl who _beat_ you up and _forced_ you to write something in the first place?"

"Nope! All Wander!" 

Katara felt her eye twitch and she was about to open her mouth to say _something_ (obviously) but Toph cut her off, "That's great, Sokka! I told you badgermoles were the best teachers!" 

She laughed and ran over to Wander, "Good job, Buddy! Thanks for doing the hard part," She pet his fur, "I didn't wanna have to talk him through it anyway, I just wanted to beat him up" 

Sokka ran over, "HEY! That wasn't a fair fight! You had your seismic sense! Wait till I find a metal floor! Or even a wooden one!" 

"Yeah yeah, keep complaining about it, that'll get you somewhere. I could beat you with one leg and both hands tied behind my back!" 

"Is that a bet?!" 

Katara groaned, she was getting a _headache._ Fine, if Toph thinks it's smart to let Sokka think a _badgermole_ taught him to respect women then fine, he's gonna look like an idiot if he ever tells this story- 

… 

Oh second thought, maybe they _should_ let him think this. Katara smiled, running after them, "Hey Sokka! So what did Wander say to you that made you change your perspective?"

"He didn't _say_ anything! He gave me a series of sounds and houses that corresponded with my reflecting, _duh!"_

The two laughed. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You really think Sokka wouldn't get his ass handed to him by Toph if she knew him when he was sexist? Suki would be proud and Katara has never crushed so hard. 
> 
> Make sure to check out thecursedavatar on tumblr for the promo art! Leave some commets, I'd love to hear your thoughts! New chapter every Friday!!


	5. Screw Zhao

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Not only was Zuko's search for the Cursed Avatar delayed due to his ship repairs, he also has no idea where she and her friends are. 
> 
> Not until he receives a certain letter from a certain jerk.

_ BAM! _

Zuko slammed his fists against the clad, wooden table. At least there was  _ one  _ thing that wasn't completely  _ destroyed _ in his…  _ encounter  _ at the Southern Water Tribe. 

"I must kill the Avatar before Zhao does or I'll never be able to regain my honor!" He barked

"You must calm down, Prince Zuko," He heard his Uncle say from behind him, "You cannot continue your search effectively if you are clouded by anger and doubt" 

" _ I'M NOT ANGRY!" _

Their ship had been successfully repaired but that was the last thing on Zuko's mind right now.

_ Zhao  _ was all he could think about. That  _ ugly _ ,  _ sideburns  _ wearing  _ asshole _ ! He wants to kill the Avatar?! Before _ Zuko? Zuko,  _ who has been searching tirelessly for the next incarnation for  _ three years? Zuko,  _ who's entire  _ honor  _ is at stake?  _ Zuko,  _ who rightfully  _ deserves  _ to by the one who  _ murders that ignorant child!  _ Alright, that last part sounded a little much (regardless if it  _ was _ true) but he was so angry he couldn't hardly think straight! 

The ship was sailing North now, having just passed the Southern mountains. And are in the middle of the wide, blue sea. Zuko and Iroh were on the top deck of the boat, while their sailors worked tirelessly around them. 

Zuko had a hunch that the Avatar is traveling to the Northern Water Tribe in order to learn Waterbending, so that is where he will be. 

The men on the ship jumped a bit at Zuko's sudden outburst. The Prince huffed, stomping over to the edge of the boat, looking out to sea. 

It wasn't  _ fair.  _ Admiral Zhao already had  _ everything.  _ He's high ranking, well off, and he's just been appointed. What does he get to gain from slaughtering the Avatar?

_ Power,  _ Zuko cursed to himself. Zhao wants  _ power _ , he wants all the  _ power _ he could get. 

He heard footsteps approaching from behind him and a hand was placed on his back as Iroh stood by his side, "Of course, of course. Do not worry, my nephew. You will be able to regain your honor... In more ways than you may think" 

The boy said nothing, continuing to look straight ahead with a scowl and not at his Uncle. What does  _ he _ know about honor anyway? He's never been banished or publicly humiliated. He  _ failed _ in his Siege of Ba Sing Se, he has no honor to speak of and he should be ashamed for not caring. 

"After all this time, the only thing I know about the Avatar is that she is blind. Would you mind telling me how she looks, Prince Zuko?" 

On the other hand, he  _ does  _ like talking about the Avatar, even if this one had to be a loudmouth who cares about Water Tribe peasants for some reason.  _ He  _ was the one who found her first and Zhao can't ever take that from him.

Nor will  _ he  _ be the one to take her life. 

________________

Sometime later into the day, Zuko sat in the middle of his small, dark room on the ship. His eyes were closed, sitting in front of candles. He was meditating, learning to control his breath and concentrating on the fire in front of him.

_ Because a good Firebender knows how to control his breath.  _

Without opening his eyes, Zuko hears the door creek open. 

"A letter came for you. By massager hawk" 

"Who's it from?" He demanded, frustration showing in his voice from being interrupted 

"Admiral Zhao" 

The boy's eyes snapped open and the candles' flames bursted brightly before lowering to a simmer once again. Zuko stood up and snatched the paper out from the sailor's hands, slamming the door on him with a thundering  _ BOOM! _

He sat back down on the floor and tore open the envelope, eyes already skimming it over before his hands finished. 

_ Hello Zuko, _

_ I hope this letter finds you in good health, I am writing you this because I must inform you of some amazing news. My sources say that the Avatar may be heading to the Northern Water Tribe. By the time you revive this, your ship has most likely been repaired and you will be South of the Earth Kingdom, am I correct?  _

_ Well if I am, I must say that I am ahead by at least a hundred thousand miles, a headstart from the Fire Nation- even more so considering that I do not know when this hawk will reach your ship.  _

_ Perhaps I will see you there? You may be able to watch as I kill her myself. You should consider yourself lucky, you may be able to experience history in the making. But don't worry, you won't leave completely empty handed, _

_ You can have her eyes as a gift from me. _

_ Would you like them on a string or in a jar?  _

_ Admiral Zhao _

" _ RAHHHHHHH! _ " Zuko roared, engulfing the paper into a burst of flames 

He jumped to his feet, punching the metal wall with his bare knuckles. 

That fucking  _ ASSHOLE!  _ Who does he think he is?!

Zuko bore his teeth in anger, screaming at no one, "He wasn't the one searching three years for her! He wasn't the one preparing, training day and night for this! He wasn't the one who was going to kill the Avatar!" 

He fell to his knees, hands gripping the stupid fucking carpet.

Then why does it feel like he was? 

Father was right: the only thing he was lucky for was to be born. How stupid could he be? To let  _ Zhao  _ of all people swipe this right from under him? 

He clenched his eyes shut, they burned but he won't cry. He won't cry. He won't, he won't, he won't. He refuses to give Zhao the satisfaction, that motherfucker would probably be able to smell his tears. 

This wasn't over yet. The Avatar still hadn't reached North and nor did Zhao. He still had a chance. He still had a chance to regain his honor. He wasn't giving up, he wasn't going down without a fight.

Suddenly, the door swung open and Iroh was standing there, face morphed into worry, "Zuko! Are you alright?" 

The young Firebender didn't move, he stayed kneeling on the floor before his Uncle. He slowly shook his head, too ashamed to look the man in the eye. 

Zuko got to his feet, "I was right, the Avatar is going to the Northern Water Tribe.  _ Set a course"  _

"...But we already were" 

_ "THEN LET'S GO FASTER!"  _ He demanded 

________________

" _ Bleh!  _ I swallowed another bug!" Sokka complained for the seventh time this hour, " _ Waaaaaahh,  _ why couldn't we have a Flying Bison? Then we could soar high in the skies and not be stuck in the dirty, dark ground!" 

The three were deep underground again, tunneling their way through the world with Katara and Sokka on Wander's back while he and Toph dug forward. 

"You shouldn't be complaining about being underground while  _ on _ a _ badgermole _ " The Avatar called from the front 

"I'm not complaining!" No, Sokka. You are definitely complaining, "All I'm saying you should be lucky I'm not claustrophobic or that I'm not allergic to dust!"

"I'm lucky you're not a lot of things," Toph began, "A giant, floating pig-chicken that's over 80 feet tall is one of those things" 

"See Sokka, you need to-" Katara froze, allowing Toph's words to sink in, she leaned over the Badgermole and looked over to her, "-What?" __

"I have some weird dreams, you guys" 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a super short chapter, I just felt I needed to have Zuko and Zhao's increasing rivalry and competition in its own chapter!!!! 
> 
> But since I feel bad about the thought of you having to wait an entire week until a full, long chapter, I'm gonna post chapter 6 today as well!! 
> 
> I hoped you enjoyed this chapter (along with Zhao's weird eyeball comments) another next one as well! 
> 
> Be sure to leave comments, I'd love to hear your thoughts!


	6. Trapped, Training, and Tussle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After emerging out from the ground and taking a small break from their travels, Toph, Sokka, and Katara meet new people and encounter some old problems.

The sun was bright and high in the sky as Sokka, Katara, and Toph were in a semi snowy forest. Toph wore no boots, finally in a place just a bit warm enough to go without. It felt good to finally see clearly instead of the fuzziness she was forced to endure for three weeks because of the temperature (the coat stayed on though, it's still freezing but just not enough that her feet won't fall off).

Sokka smiled, placing his hands behind his head and stretching out a top a giant rock, "Ah, feels good to be above ground" 

"Eh," Toph was sprawled on top of the boy, "It's all Earth, whether you're above or below" 

Katara stopped a couple feet away from them, facing a giant lake and pushing and pulling the water in front of her, weakly Waterbending, "This was a nice place to set up camp. The lake here is perfect for Waterbending!" 

"Well don't get too cozy, we're leaving tomorrow morning so  _ no distractions _ ," Sokka said, shifting himself under Toph, the fur hood from her parka going is his mouth,  _ "Bleh! _ And get off me, Toph!"

"But you make such a great bed!  _ Just let me lay here for a bit"  _ She sighed, smiling contently

He sat up, shoving the Earthbender off his person and she fell off the rock and hit the hard ground, "Go lay on Wander!" He shouted before looking around, "Hey, where  _ is _ Wander?"

Toph rolled onto her stomach, propping her head up with her hands, "Do I really need to explain?" She asked, "His name is  _ Wander.  _ He's wandering around somewhere. He'll be back later. Now let me lay here" She said before dropping her face back onto the ground and laying flat on her stomach 

Katara chuckled slightly, glancing over at the Avatar before returning to her practice. 

Out of nowhere, a group of… ninjas!? _Assassins!?_ _Something_ leaped out of the tall, leafless trees and down on the ground in front of them. 

The three of them were thrown off by the sudden ambush. They were so dumbfounded and astonished, they could hardly fight back in time. 

Two of the (let's just call them green ninjas for now) green ninjas held a single staff, either holding one end as they dashed to Sokka, knocking him down and the wind right out of his lungs. A hand yanked at the hood of Toph's parka, jerking her upwards. And three more grabbed Katara. 

Before any of them could really process it, they were thrown to the ground, hands tied behind their back and blindfolded (even  _ Toph _ , who they guessed, did not know she was blind). 

"Hey, remember when I said no distractions?  _ How funny..." _ Sokka mumbled 

  
  
  
  


The ninjas dragged them off, Sokka getting dragged by one of them while another dragged Katara and Toph behind them as they walked through a dirt path. 

" _ Hey Toph,"  _ Sokka whispered over to the girl, having to guess where she might be on account of being unable to see, " _ Now would be a good time for some Earthbending"  _

" _ Shhh. Give it a second, I'm waiting"  _ She said hushedly

" _ What are you waiting for?!"  _ Katara asked, nudging Toph with her elbow 

_ "I dunno yet. Something though"  _

_ "We're all gonna diiiiiie..."  _ Sokka whined 

"All you,  _ be quiet!" _ The woman's voice demanded as they were dragged off to who knows where 

________________

15 minutes of getting dragged later, the three were tied to what felt to be a pole. They heard murmurings and talking of a crowd of people.

"You three have some explaining to do" A man's voice called 

"Yeah! And you better answer all our questions!" Shouted a girl

Sokka struggled in his bindings, if Toph wasn't gonna get them out then  _ he  _ will, "ARUGH! SHOW YOURSELVES-" 

Before he could finish his threat, his blindfold was yanked off. Before him stood a man and dozen other people. All staring at them….

"Oh…  _ Hi"  _ He didn't think they were  _ actually _ gonna take it off him. Sokka watched as they took the cloths off Katara and Toph as well 

"Who're you? Where are we?" Katara asked, looking around at the people. It looked like a village, if the houses and statues were any indication. She guessed they are in the middle of the town?

" _ We'll _ be asking the questions here,  _ Fire Nation spies"  _ The man said

"Oh boy, here we go again" Toph shook her head, she was getting a little tired of people accusing her of being Fire Nation 

"This island has stayed out of the war so far for the last  _ hundred years _ and we intend to keep it that way!" He exclaimed 

The Waterbender shook her head, "We're not Fire Nation. We're from the Southern Water Tribe!"

"Well  _ actually,"  _ Her brother corrected her,  _ "Two _ Southern Water Tribe and  _ one _ Earth Kingdom" 

The man raised an eyebrow at Toph, "Earth Kingdom, huh? Surely then you've heard of the  _ Cursed _ Avatar's return"

Katara gave him and everyone else a strange look, "What do you mean? The Avatar returning is a good thing!" 

The villagers began to laugh. 

What was so funny? What does the Earth Kingdom think of the Avatar? In the Southern Water Tribe, the people believe the Avatar brings hope- sure they had a rough century but they're still powerful beings who speak for the spirits! They shouldn't be laughing. 

"Hey! Stop laughing! I didn't say anything funny!" Katara jerked against her ropes, growing angry 

Toph lightly kicked her leg and through her teeth she grunted, " _ Katara, stop"  _

"What?! I don't get it!" She turned back to the townspeople, "Why is that not a good thing?!" 

"The Avatar's a  _ joke! _ The spirit is weakening, you can't deny that!" The man laughed, "Between Avatar Gyatso not preventing the war, and don't even get me started on  _ Avatar Kuruk!" _

One lady says, "I didn't even know he  _ died!"  _

"And  _ now,  _ we have an Earthbending Avatar, tiny, blind and weak! The world doesn't need  _ another _ embarrassment!" 

The village continued their laughter, while the trio is still tied to the pole. What's wrong with these people? And these idiots don't even realize that they're talking about the Avatar  _ in front  _ of the Avatar! 

Sokka and Katara glanced worriedly over to Toph, but are surprised to find that she isn't sad or discouraged or even embarrassed. But angry,  _ she's fuming.  _

Toph growls and slides her foot on the ground, the Earth in front of her shooting up in a sharp spear, slicing through her binds and launching her up into the air. The villagers gasp as they watch her land in front of them. 

"I might be small and blind but I'm  _ not _ weak! I'm the greatest Earthbender in the world!" 

The people begin whispering. 

_ 'Is that really here?' _

_ 'Is this girl serious?'  _

_ 'Avatar' _

_ 'Avatar' _

_ 'Avatar' _

"Yeah that's right, I  _ am _ the Avatar so you better show some respect for me and my friends!" The tiny girl scolded the people of the village while she undid the ropes that held Sokka and Katara. When they were free, she began walking off, "Come on, let's leave" 

The ladies that had ambushed them before stood in front of Toph, blocking her way like a wall, "You're not going  _ anywhere" _ One of them growled

"Oh yeah, and how're you gonna stop me?" 

________________

"Welp..."

They did technically stop her.

Toph grumbled from inside a cage made entirely out of thick, hard wood with a heavy metal padlock on the door. The cage was sitting on a wooden platform square in the middle of the village. She huffed, sitting down on the floor of the cage. Doesn't this feel familiar? 

Sokka was leaning against the cage, "Why do these people hate all the Avatars so much?"

"Because they're  _ Earth Kingdom _ . Those rock heads got nothing but pride. They're ashamed that the Avatar that came from  _ their  _ land is blind and  _ 'weak,"  _ Toph explained, using air quotes on the last word, "Why do you think I got chased out of my  _ own _ town? 

"Oh… Right" 

Katara balled her fists, "Well there's gotta be a way to change these peoples minds!"

"Ah don't worry about it, teapot. I already told them but if they don't wanna listen, they'll see what I'm made of soon," The 12 year old shrugged, "Stuff like this you just gotta wait for the perfect moment. Plus," Toph reached behind her back, taking her banjo out, "I still have my banjo" She strumed a few strings

Toph knew she  _ could _ fight it, like how Katara was right now. But neutral jing requires doing nothing, so Toph will either wait for them to come to their senses or, when the perfect moment arises, she escapes and does it for them.

And as nice as fighting to her dying breath like the Waterbender always did  _ sounds _ , she won't (she has more self restraint and wisdom than that). So as much as she loves knocking heads together, she needs to carefully choose her battles- she can't waste her time spent getting to the Northern Water Tribe on the petty Avatar-hating drama of the Earth Kingdom.

But at least she has her banjo to keep her busy, she has  _ one  _ thing that will aid her senses, being unable to sense anything in this wooden hell.

"We shouldn't have to wait, it's not right how they think they should treat you!" The girl yelled, "They think they could just put you in a cage and get away with it?! That's not right and-" 

Katara was going  _ crazy!  _ How could these people just throw someone in a cage based on,  _ what?  _ Something they couldn't control? Something _ other people did? _ It's ridiculous! And Toph was just gonna sit back and take it? Was she fucking stupid? What was she doing?!

"HEY! No speaking to the Avatar!" One of the girls that had ambushed them from earlier came up to them. She held fans, had brown hair and wore this (actually very nice looking) facial makeup 

"We were just talking to our friend" Sokka huffed 

"Let Toph out right now!" Katara demanded, stomping up to the girl and getting in her face. She had to lift her head to look up to her, she must be around Sokka's age 

"The Avatar stays in the cage. You two can stay in the village, but you  _ can't _ talk to her. Go do something else" She pointed a finger behind her, glaring at Katara 

The two girls scowled at each other for a moment.

Katara began stomping away, " _ Fine.  _ But this isn't over, come on Sokka" 

"You'll be okay here?" Sokka asked his little buddy 

Toph nodded, "Oh yeah, I'm good. Can't exactly go anywhere," She smiled and sat on her knees, turning herself in the direction of the green ninja girl, "So, do you guys lock up every Avatar you see or am I just special?" 

If Toph was gonna wait, the least she could do was make the village's experience as worse for them as it was for her.

The girl groaned and walked away. 

________________

Zuko stood above the deck of his ship, now fueled more than ever on his search. He held a telescope up to his right eye as they sailed past an Earth Kingdom island. 

He'll find the Avatar. And when he does, he'll have a million different ways to kill her. To kill her  _ before Zhao  _ does. 

Peering through the telescope, his vision spotted a brown blur in the distance, he zoomed in, trying to get a closer look. It was a badgermole drinking from a small pond near a village. A village filled with people. 

Wait, a badgermole? 

Could it be the  _ Cursed Avatar's _ badgermole? 

His eyes widened before turning on his heel, " _ STOP THE SHIP!" _ He hollered to his men, _ "HEAD TO THAT ISLAND!"  _

That could be any badgermole, he tried to reason with himself, trying not to get his hopes too high. Badgermoles are usually found more towards the equator though, or you know,  _ underground _ , he argued internally. This could be  _ her.  _ This could be it. His chance to regain his honor. 

He could feel the fire in his stomach grow hotter with every second. He'll burn her, turn her to ashes, show no remorse if it means getting home. It'll be easy, it won't be what happened in the Southern Tribe. That was a fluke, he could beat her. Zhao was just getting in his head; he is strong- stronger than  _ her _ , not to mention bigger and  _ sighted.  _ That stupid girl doesn't stand a  _ chance.  _

After all these years, he'll finally be able to go home. 

"Me and you will search the village, Uncle" He said as their ship stopped at the shoreline 

"What about the crew?"

"They'll stay here and capture her badgermole, we can't waste any time,"

_ "The Avatar is here" _

________________

Katara and Sokka walked through town- well, more of _Katara_ _storming_ through town and Sokka following along. 

"I can't believe this twisted place! How could they think it's okay to lock up Toph  _ just _ because she's the Avatar!" Katara rambled, "It's so  _ stupid!" _

"But what could we do? Besides, Toph seems pretty okay with waiting to prove everyone wrong" 

"I know but we still need to find a way to get her out," Katara stopped, scratching her chin. How could they get her out? Should they come at night and break her out? But they shouldn't have to do that, shouldn't have to break their friend out of a literal  _ cage  _ because an entire  _ nation  _ ( _ two _ nations actually) hate her. 

Her gaze shifted up and her eyes landed on that guy! That old guy who had talked so ill about the Avatar when they were tied up! 

Katara's blood began heating up as she grabbed Sokka's hand, rushing over to him. The man was standing in front of a giant statue of a woman who was wearing the same uniform and makeup as many of the girls in the village (Maybe it was a tradition?), " _ HEY! I GOT A BONE TO PICK WITH YOU!  _

The man turned and his face turned from curiosity to annoyance, "Oh, you two are still here?" He sighed, exasperated, "What is it?"

The girl pointed a finger at his chest, "Let my friend go! Or  _ else!"  _

" _ Or else?"  _ The man chuckled, shaking his head, "This is for her own good, it's not her fault she's cursed due to the terrible decisions of her past lives- or technically, it  _ is  _ her fault"

_ "TOPH ISN'T CURSED!"  _

" _ Yes _ , she is. If we have her running around, she'll get herself killed. Then the Fire Nation will have the Avatar of the next element and the world will be doomed" 

"But you can't just lock someone away and say it's for their safety! This isn't because you care about her! It's because you want to control her!"

"And why would I want to control her?!" 

"Because you're too prideful! You're embarrassed and you know  _ nothing  _ about Toph! The Earth Kingdom won't even give her a chance!" 

"Listen here, little girl-"

"No  _ you  _ listen here!" 

The two continued clashing, the volumes of their voices continuously growing louder and louder. 

Sokka tuned them out. He knew Katara was right and he knew she was doing the right thing by defending Toph in her absence. But he also knew that, at the end of the day, Katara's got the lung capacity of a god and is always willing to argue for hours on end, no matter the smallest of disagreements. 

The boy boredly kicked a rock, maybe he could sneak back to Toph? He glanced upward and his eyes caught what looked to be an outside class across the road. It was those girls in the uniforms and makeup again, they were training. It seemed to be getting taught by the brown haired girl who told him and Katara to get lost. 

Sokka could train for a while. 

It wouldn't kill him to learn a few new moves. Maybe they could teach him that ambushing stuff? 

The boy turned back to his sister, 

"-AND  _ ANOTHER  _ THING-"

Katara cares a lot, she'll put up a good enough fight for the both of them. 

  
  
  
  


Sokka ran up to the group of girls, a wide grin on his face, "Hey there!" He greeted, stopping in front of them and pausing their lesson. All of them turned to face him.

The brown haired girl rolled her eyes, "Oh, you're one of the Avatar's friends. What do you want?" 

"Can I train with you guys?"

"Uh…  _ Why?"  _

He needs a reason to train with people? "Because you guys look like you really know what you're doing. And I've never  _ formally _ trained before and I'd love to learn from the,  _ uh…?" _

Oh crap, what were their names? Did they ever tell him? Did they say it and he forgot? Shit, shit, shit- 

"The Kyoshi Warriors. This is Kyoshi Island, both named after Avatar Kyoshi, the previous Earthbending Avatar" Their leader explained 

His eyes widened, "Woah really? So is that who that giant statue is of?" They nodded, "That's cool, that's cool" He rubbed the back of his neck, in an act of appearing nonchalant which eventually failed because of his big, goofy smile, "So can I train with you guys?"

"I don't see why not" 

"Yeah"

"The more the merrier" 

The girls nodded in a agreement with each other, all accept the one with brown hair, who frowned and crossed her arms, standing in Sokka's personal space, "Our fighting style is unique and powerful, how do we know you're not gonna use it against us and help free the Avatar?" 

Man, this girl did _ not  _ like him. That's fair, he's a little menis, he'll admit it. But he really,  _ really _ wanted to become a better warrior. And becoming a better warrior means learning diverse fighting styles. 

"I doubt I'd be able to be any of you in a fight, especially all at once" 

She glared at him, as if her eyes were scanning far a lie on his face. When she didn't find one (Because he  _ did _ mean what he said), she grumbled, "Fine but I got my eye on you" 

One of the girls speaks up, "If he's gonna train with us, shouldn't he have to undergo our traditions? Even the uniform?"

"Oh yeah, you're right, Bow," The leader smiled at Sokka, "You don't mind wearing one of our uniforms right?" 

Sokka gulped. 

________________

"You know, I know I was showing some hesitancy before but," Sokka looked down at himself, in a complete Kyoshi uniform along with the makeup as well, "This is actually really comfy. And the make up isn't half bad!" 

Sokka stood in the actual dojo of the village with the rest of the Kyoshi Warriors. He was actually quite liking the uniform and would confidently say he would probably wear it again if given the chance. 

He was glad he wasn't a sexist jerk anymore (now he was just a regular jerk) or he was sure he would have thrown a fit. 

He wondered if Katara or Toph would enjoy the clothes as much as him, probably not. That reminds him, he should go check on the both of them later. He has to make sure that Katara didn't kill that man or that Toph isn't getting stuff thrown at her. But that could wait, this wasn't about them or the outfit or the makeup (sadly) this was about the training. He was gonna _ learn the way of Kyoshi.  _

And it wasn't even noon yet! 

"But I am ready to learn though, just to be clear" 

The leader squared her shoulders, and placed her feet firmly on the wooden floor, "Let's see about that" 

She thrusted forward, already lunging to attack. Sokka squealed and jumped backwards. She drove her fan towards him, slicing at his chest but not hard enough to ruin the uniform (she respects Kyoshi too much).

The boy looked down at himself, shaking off the hit and diving back in, waving his fan wildly and without skill. 

The leader raised her clenched fist to him, knocking the fan out of Sokka's shaky hand. 

She slung forward again, this time attacking without her weapon as well. She grabbed his arm and whipped him around, his back facing her. The girl then shoved him towards the floor, effectively knocking off his feet and declaring herself the victor. 

The rest of the Kyoshi Warriors O'd and Ah'd at their leader's great skills in combat and Sokka turned on his back, propping himself up by his elbows, looking up at her. 

She smiled down at him, "Wanna try again?" 

Yeah, he is definitely lucky he wasn't a sexist jerk. This girl would have kicked his ass into next week and humiliate him in front of the Earth Kingdom if he was. 

________________

The sun had begun to set and Iroh and Zuko had been searching the village all day looking for any sign of the Avatar. The two had split up, as per Zuko's request and Iroh has been wandering around since they got there just hours ago. 

And by wandering, he means  _ wandering.  _ He wasn't actively looking for the Avatar like his nephew was, to be honest, he does not even remember the physical description Zuko had given him of the girl. If she were here, he could walk right up to her and have a whole conversation without even realizing she is the incarnation of thousands. 

After bowing to the great statue of Avatar Kyoshi (where he saw a man and a girl arguing in the distance, he wondered why), he walked through the town, passing by people of all walks of life.

He and Zuko had taken off their Fire Nation uniforms in an attempt to avoid drawing suspicion to themselves and it worked for the most part and Iroh could not be happier.

He was able to look over the fresh cabbage that a merchant was selling without the possibility of being feared (although he would have relished in the fear not too long ago which saddens him). 

While perusing the vegetables and making small conversation with the merchant, Iroh noticed a small child locked inside a wooden cage on a platform in the center of town. 

_ Strange...  _

The old man walked up to the cage and looked down at the girl, she was sitting inside, arms around an instrument with a bored expression on her face, "Hello there" 

"Hi" She raised her head in his direction

"Is that a banjo?" 

She nodded, strumming a few strings, "Yep. And if you toss a coin in, I'll play a song" She chuckled quietly at her own joke

He smiled, "Wonderful weather" 

"Oh yeah. I'm lucky it's not too cold or I'd be in real trouble- well," She paused, "More trouble than I already am now, seeing as I'm in a cage"

"What are you doing in there anyway? Have you done something wrong?" He asked 

She smiled at him, "You mean you weren't there?" She waved her arms, leaning against the wall of the cage, "I'll give you the watered down version; I'm born, the Earth Kingdom hates me, the village is embarrassed, yadda yadda yadda I guess they think I'm weak and I'm thrown in a cage" 

Alright, that didn't make one bit of sense. 

"Why would they throw you in a cage if they think you're weak?" 

She shrugged, "I dunno. People are weird" 

Iroh nods in agreement, closing his eyes, "Yes, that is very true. People are weird" 

"Yeah like, they blame people who ' _ should have stopped the war'  _ instead of the actual people who  _ started _ it! And just because a couple of them messed up doesn't make  _ me  _ weak or explain how _ I  _ am. Only  _ I _ can explain how _ I _ am because  _ I'm _ me" She pointed a thumb to herself, looking very angry and frustrated. What kind of life is this child living? It's too specific to be a proverb, he's sure of that

The girl then sat on her knees, her hands grabbing the bars of her cage, pressing her face right up against it, "Anyway, what about you? What were you doing before you were talking to some kid in a cage?"

He was able to get a better look at the girl inside now, her bangs were long and looked as though they hadn't been cut in a very long time (though that probably was just personal choice) and her eyes, from what he could see of them, were  _ huge.  _ She was grinning at him, smiling as though she didn't care being in a cage. And she sounded very nice. 

Honestly, she was quite adorable. 

Iroh chuckled, "I was helping my nephew find something" 

"Oh? He lost something?" 

"No, no… He's never had it, he's been searching for it for a long time" 

"It sounds really important to him" 

"It is," He looked down solemnly, "But for the wrong reasons. He thinks that he could get back what once was by obtaining it..."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that... Your nephew sounds like he isn't happy with how things are right now. He probably wants to go back to when he was," She sighed and hugged her knees, "I guess I can relate… But you can't go back in time, you can't sit around feeling sorry for yourself, you have to keep moving forward and find new happiness. I hope your nephew finds peace with that idea"

Iroh opened his mouth, then closed it, then opened it again, "That is a wise conclusion you have come to for yourself. My only wish is that I could do my best to help him reach that idea as well" He nodded

"You sound like a good Uncle, your nephew is lucky to have you," He watched as she grinned up at him. Such a young child, a young, _ wise _ child. The man could only hope the Earth Kingdom who feels such hatred towards her according to the girl, does not break or wear down her spirit, "I guess you should be going. It's probably late" 

"What about you?" 

"These idiots will come to they're senses eventually, I just have to be patient" 

Iroh turned his head back and forth, scanning the area in an over exaggerated manner. There was no one around. He smiled at the child, "I believe you have waited long enough" 

The man lifted his index finger to the thick, metal padlock and a small, concentrated flame burned from it. He pressed it to the lock, beginning to heat it up. 

_ More heat.  _ He gave it more juice, feeding the flame and the metal melted off like liquid, tinting the wood that it touched black. 

The door creaked open and the short girl jumped out, " _ You're a Firebender..." _ She said in awe and not… Fear? 

He was about to open his mouth to say more but his thoughts were interrupted. 

_ "AVATAR!"  _

Zuko was charging right towards the Avatar-

Wait,  _ Avatar?  _

"Oh you  _ again _ ?" He heard the girl huff, readying her stance, and shouting as Zuko ran at her like a bull who saw red, " _ ALRIGHT! I'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR A REASON TO FIGHT ALL DAY!"  _ She grinned and lifted a small arm in front of Iroh, "Say behind me, wise-man. I'll keep you safe, then we can find your nephew!" 

Iroh's attention kept shifting in between the girl in front of him-  _ the Avatar,  _ and Zuko-  _ his nephew _ . 

This girl, this  _ child  _ was the  _ Avatar?  _ This nice, wise girl was the child that his nephew was going to kill? Who he  _ and _ Zhao were  _ competing _ to kill? 

Zuko gave a mighty battle cry as he launched into the air, his fist igniting in a fiery burst of flames. The Avatar stepped backwards, his fist collided with the dirt. 

Oh no. 

_ BOOM!  _

Hot flames shot out in all directions from the impact, but the girl stomped on the ground, causing a wall of rock to emerge out and shield not only herself but Iroh too. 

________________

Training had ended when the sun first began going down, now it was only Sokka and the leader of the Kyoshi Warriors- who he found out his name was Suki. They were still in the dojo, the boy continuing to swing his fan around in practice- much more confidently than before. 

"You did good today" She smiled, watching him kick his way across the room 

"Thanks" He said, concentrating on his training 

She shook her head, he reminded her of herself when she began her training as a Kyoshi Warrior- so eager to fight and practice, "You're not gonna master it in one day. I think you should count your wins for the day"

"Wait, wait, wait, I think I've got it this time!" Sokka says. He lifted his leg gracefully before stomping it down and shifting his weight into his arms… and he accidentally let go of his fan…  _ and _ it flew out the window

Suki chuckled, "It's not about strength, our technique is about using your opponents own force against them. Loosen up," She relaxed her shoulders and watched as he did the same. The girl carried her arm, raising her fan, "Think of the fan as an extension of your arm. Wait for an opening and then-  _ AH!"  _

Before Suki could finish her lesson, Sokka attacked. He grabbed her arm, completely flipping her, throwing her to the floor. 

He just…  _ caught her off guard? _ Just… flipped her mid sentence? 

What the  _ fuck?  _

They stared at each other, both in complete disbelief (Sokka more so, he actually  _ got her?). _

Suki jumps to her feet, "AURGH, I just fell on purpose to make you _ feel _ good about yourself!" 

" _ HA!"  _ He laughed, pointing a mocking finger at the girl, "I got you! Admit it!" 

Her face turned red (she was thankful that her makeup hid it) and she puffed out her cheeks before sighing, a smiling tugging on her lips. She laughed, "Fine, you got me. It was a lucky shot though. Let's stop for today," She began walking towards the open sliding door, "We'll be able to train more tomorrow" 

They both share a cackle before walking outside and sitting on the steps outside the building. He watched the sun set, the sky flushing in hues of orange, crimson and pink. 

Today was a good day for Sokka. He learned so much from the Kyoshi Warriors and he couldn't wait to learn more. 

Suki was amazing too. She was strong, smart and an amazingly talented warrior. He wished they had more time together, they have only known each other for a day (and she hated him for half of it) but he could tell they have the opportunity to become close friends. 

But there was still one nagging question at the back of his mind...

"Hey, so if you guys love Avatar Kyoshi so much… Why do you hate Toph? They're both Earthbenders" 

He watched as Suki's face scrunched up, "It's more than just that. It's about  _ all _ Avatars, the past few have been disappointments to the world and like Oyaji said, the spirit is getting weaker and it's a dishonor towards our Kingdom"

_ What?  _

"You think Toph dishonored the Earth Kingdom because she's blind?" 

"No- it's just that- it's not because she _ blind.  _ She's  _ cursed-" _

"And you think that _because_ she's blind. _Because_ you don't trust that she could defend herself from the Fire Nation. _Because_ of the actions of the other Avatars that she had _nothing to do with!"_ He stood up, yelling at her

How could Suki say that? How could she  _ think  _ that? Toph was more than capable of defending, fighting and being strong. Just because she was blind doesn't mean her spirit is  _ weak or cursed. _

"She  _ was  _ the other Avatars! She made all their mistakes, she could have prevented the war, she didn't do anything to stop it. Millions of people are dead because of  _ her!" _ Suki shouted, now standing as well

"The Avatars don't have their past lives' memories. Even though they all had the same spirit, they're all still different people! You can't judge someone based on things they have no control over-!"

_ BOOM!  _

Sokka was interrupted by a thundering crash that echoed through the town.

What was  _ that?  _

Sokka and Suki both exchanged glances before dashing off the steps and into the center of the village. 

________________

When Sokka and Suki rushed into the center, the rest of the Kyoshi Warriors, Katara and Oyaji had already beaten them there. 

In the middle of the village, the young Firebender and Toph brawled. 

"YOU'RE MINE, AVATAR!" He cursed, passionately attacking with all his might. 

He hurled a wave of fireballs in Toph's direction, to which she retreated behind the wooden cage, grabbing Iroh with her. 

The teenager snared, " _ WHAT'RE YOU DOING WITH MY UNCLE?!" _

Toph poked her head out from the side of the wood, " _ 'Uncle'?"  _ She repeated, ducking back behind it when he fired more fire at her, then she popped her head back out again, "No way..." 

Toph turned her attention down to the old man on the floor. He smiled, laughing nervously and shrugging. 

Well shit. The psychopath is the nephew. Whatever, Toph doesn't have time to think about how she had a really nice conversation with his really nice Uncle. Or the fact that she was able to relate to this teenager on yearning to go back to a time where she was happy and safe with people who loved her. That she was able to understand this teenager who  _ killed her parents. _

Wait, was  _ she  _ the thing his Uncle was helping him search for? 

How could  _ she  _ help this guy get back to being happy? He wants to  _ kill  _ her. How in the world would that make him- 

_ BOOM  _

_ Crap _ , right she was fighting. 

Toph turned to Iroh, "Alright, I'm not gonna hurt you because you're actually a really nice old man, so…  _ Bye _ !" 

She stomped her foot onto the ground and a chair made out of rock came out under the man, she flexed her arms and Iroh's chair slid around the cage and across the town center. His chair whipped around, spinning as it drove until it stopped short in front of Katara and Oyaji (even though the guy  _ was  _ helping his nephew try to kill her, she wasn't gonna let him get hurt, she's not a  _ monster).  _

"Uh… hi" The Waterbender greeted 

"... Hello" 

Toph bashed her fists into the dirt, the entire ground in an entire 100 foot radius shook, throwing everyone off balance. 

"ARGH!" He screamed, falling to his knees. He looked up, raising his arm to shoot another blast of fire 

Sokka charged at the boy, tackling him to the ground. They rolled around in the dirt until Sokka was on top of him, his legs straddling the boy, "YOU PONYTAILED SICKO!" Sokka spat, bashing the boy square in the jaw 

"GET OFF ME!" The Firebender screamed, his hands holding flames 

"SOKKA!" Katara darted over to the boys, shoving Sokka off the Prince, kicking the scared boy in the gut 

He groaned in pain, standing back up, facing the siblings, " _ You two _ …  _ Water Tribe idiots… OUT OF MY WAY!"  _

They both glared at him, neither budging one bit. If they wanted to get to Toph, they had to get through-

Toph launched herself over the siblings, landing in front of them, "You two get everyone out of the village. I have a score to settle with…" Toph paused, "I'm sorry, what's your name?" 

"RAAAH! IT'S  _ ZUKO _ !" He screamed at the top of his lungs, "The one who's gonna destroy the Avatar!" 

He ran forward, his arm coming down to strike at her head, but Toph pulled out her banjo, blocking his arm with the spine of the instrument, his eyes widened.

She tossed the banjo to the side as she grabbed Zuko, lifting him over her head and tossed him 10 feet back, slamming on the floor. 

He got back to his feet, shaking off the blow. Either this guy was too stupid to get hurt or he didn't care but either way he was durable as Hell, "You would've made a great Earthbender!" She called out to him and truly meant that, not mockery was laced in her voice 

Zuko ran at her again, but this time getting stopped by a line of menacing Kyoshi Warriors, all standing in front of the small Avatar. 

"Move out of the way!  _ Or I'll make you" _

"Avatar, get you and your friends out of here! We'll take over from here!" Suki yelled, her and the other girls continuing their standoff with the banished Prince

Oh boy, not this again.

"Can you  _ please  _ tell me about how weak I am  _ after  _ I beat the shit out of this guy-" 

"No!" Suki turned her head to Toph, "I saw you fight! I was wrong. The Avatar spirit isn't weakening, it's stronger than ever in you!" She said quickly, "Thank you,  _ Avatar Toph!  _ And thank you, Sokka" 

The Kyoshi Warriors began attacking Zuko, easily beginning to show signs of overpowering him. Toph grabbed Sokka and Katara by their hands (making sure to swipe her banjo off the floor as well), "Come on you guys. We gotta go,  _ like right now!"  _

"I thought you'd never say so!" The Waterbender exclaimed

They dashed out of the village, hearing the faint shout of " _ NOOOOO!"  _ From Zuko

________________

The trio ran off and out the village. The sun had now set and the sky was dark. 

They stopped, Sokka looked around frantically, "Toph,  _ Toph _ , where the  _ fuck _ is Wander?!" He shook her shoulder 

"He has to be around here  _ somewhere!"  _ Katara shouted 

"Calm down, he's right over-" 

" _ AHHHHH!"  _

A dozen men cried as they dashed past the kids and to a Fire Nation ship that was close to the shore. 

The three turned around and Wander came running up, darting past them and stopping st the ocean, giving a great, big roar, " _ RAAAAAAAAAAAH"  _ He screeched

"- _ There!"  _ Toph gave a toothy grin and ran up to the Badgermole, leaving the dumbfounded siblings in shocked silence. She Earthbent the ground beneath her, launching herself onto Wander's face and hugging him, "I hope you had fun today, I sure didn't! That roar was awesome!" She laughed, " _ ROOAAAR!" _ Mimicking his scream 

"Was he  _ always _ able to do that?!" Sokka was freaking out.  _ Way  _ too many things had happened already 

Katara grabbed his arm, yanking him over to the two Earthbenders, "Less talking, more getting the  _ fuck _ outta here!" 

The small group all climbed Wander, riding him as he burrowed under the ground, successfully escaping and continuing their travels. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See? I told you I'll post a longer one! And it's of Kyoshi Island no less! We get to see my girl Suki whom I love with all my heart! 
> 
> Sokka didnt get his butt kicked by Suki either because he wasn't a dirty sexist anymore since Toph kicked his butt already so him and her was besties now. And Katara spent the entire day yelling at a man, it amazes me that she has never lost her voice before. 
> 
> And Toph spoke to Iroh! She is beginning to get a better understanding and even more conflicting feelings about Zuko. This will definitely effect the rest of the story 
> 
> Suki, along with Kyoshi Island (previously) and the entire Earth Kingdom (currently), saw/see Tooh as a joke basically. That she is cursed because of the actions of her past lives, that's why they think she's blind and tiny and weak (which is not the case). 
> 
> Suki and the rest of the Kyoshi Island see that they were wrong now and feel super bad. And we'll be seeing Suki again so dont worry ;)
> 
> Toph was able to change the people of Kyoshi Island's mind the question is, will she be able to convince the rest of the Earth Kingdom as well?
> 
> Make sure to check out chapter 5 that was also posted today!!


	7. The Dongzhi Festival

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the mess of Kyoshi Island, Toph, Sokka, Katara (and of course Wander) visit another village after nonstop traveling and find out about a festival celebrating the approaching Winter Solstice!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Theres a song in this chapter and it's called "Camellia Flower" and it's by Teresa Teng. You should give it a listen, it's really good!!!!!!

"Finally,  _ civilization!"  _ Sokka cheered as he, Katara and Toph burrowed out from underneath the Earth

"I know, it feels like forever since we've been above ground since Kyoshi Island" Katara says, sliding off Wander 

"That's cause we were digging under the  _ ocean.  _ But now that we've reached land, that must mean we've reached the Earth Kingdom," Toph explained, "Now all we have to do is get through the Earth Kingdom and we'll be at the Northern Water Tribe in no time!"

After traveling deep under the Earth nonstop since Kyoshi Island, the trio had finally made it to the Earth Kingdom, one step closer to the North. They had just tunneled out from the ground and had emerged in the cusp of a forest, being able to make out a small village from through the mass of trees. They were all happy to finally be able to visit a town with a fresher start.

Though Toph couldn't stop thinking about that old man who freed her from her cage back on the island- but more importantly,  _ his nephew. _ During their underground travels, every free thought was consumed by the two. When that old man was describing Zuko -his search, his want to return to what was- it was easy to understand he was incredibly sad and tried to get something back from his past. How that maybe what he's searching for isn't for the right reasons, that what he wants isn't what he needs yet he continues hoping- continues looking to fill a hole that had been carved out by tragedy.

It sounded terrible, Toph could only imagine what the man's nephew had been going through. But when she finally had a face to put to the boy-  _ that _ is where things got confusing. 

The boy that was hunting her down like some animal. The boy that tried to kill her and her friends. The boy that  _ actually killed _ her parents- was the same boy who missed something from his past. The same boy who had a really nice Uncle. The same boy she was able to relate to. The same boy who she wanted to  _ help.  _

Toph wanted to help this boy- well she  _ did.  _ She wanted to understand what could have happened to sharpen his edges. What terrible things could he have endured (there had to be a reason, because she refuses to believe that people could be born that way).

He tried to hurt her, her friends, the innocent people of the Southern Water Tribe, he  _ actually  _ hurt her dads. But he was hurt as well. Whatever happened to Zuko probably wasn't fair, but Toph knows that what he did to everyone else wasn't right either. 

She still doesn't like him but… she's gotten more context than she ever thought she would get. And the worst part is, Toph has a feeling this won't be the last time she'll be encountering him. 

But she doesn't need to focus on that, right now she and her friends were safe and  _ away _ from him. And on the bright side, the weather in the Earth Kingdom was much warmer than the South. So she was able to  _ finally  _ take off that stuffy parka and (somewhat) proudly show off her Earth Kingdom attire. 

Toph placed her coat down next to Wander, who was now laying down, she pet his fur, "We'll be back it a bit"

  
  
  
  


The kids now walked through town, Sokka begins to whine as his stomach growls, "Aw, I'm hungry! And we ate the last of our food last night!" 

"I  _ told _ you guys, just stick to rocks and bugs. Endless supply  _ right _ from the Earth" The Earthebender crossed her arms 

"For the last time Toph, no one's eating that except you. Don't worry Sokka, I got it," Katara says as she reached into her park's pocket, in her hand she held out a couple of Earth Kingdom coins, "I still have the coins Toph gave me when we first met. You remember, right Toph?"

Toph raised an eyebrow, "Oh yeah. I gave them to you then I almost died again- now that I think about it, I almost died a  _ lot  _ that day. Funny," She then began to blush at the realization that,  _ Katara still had those.  _ It's been like  _ four weeks,  _ "You still kept those?"

The Waterbender's cheeks began to flush, "Of course I kept them" 

" _ Gross,"  _ Sokka gagged, "You guys are ruining my appetite!" He snatched the coins out of Katara's hands and began storming off, "You guys can keep flirting or whatever but I'm gonna go buy some-..." 

Sokka gasped, his march coming to an abrupt halt as his eyes landed on something a few hundred meters away. In the middle of the town's square was a bulletin board…

With a large poster of Toph. Oh shit. Dammit and it was a  _ really  _ good drawing of her too. They had all her features right- down to her dumb headband and stupidly huge eyes. Whatever, that poster could mean any- motherfucker. His gaze shifted downwards slightly, the words  _ 'AVATAR WANTED'  _ were written in bright, bold, red letters under the illustration.  _ Fuuuck.  _

"We aren't  _ flirting _ and even if we  _ were _ , it's-  _ HEY!"  _ Toph was cut off with a parka forced over her head and body 

"Sokka! What's wrong!?" Katara shouted, she watched as her brother threw off his coat and forced it over the 12 year old

He wrapped his arms tightly around the struggling girl, who had his parka halfway on with her arms not even through the sleeves and face covered in the mass of fur, " _ SHH SHH! Shut up! Look!"  _ He pointed a finger in the direction of the board, causing Katara to gasp.

"Wow Sokka," Toph popped her head through the parka, "That's super interesting. Now can someone  _ please  _ explain to the blind girl what he's pointing at?"

Katara placed a hand on her shoulder, "It's a wanted poster…" She paused, "Of  _ you _ , Toph"

"Oh, okay"

That's okay and to be honest, completely understandable. The Earth Kingdom didn't want the Fire Nation to harbor the next Avatar on the cycle if she were to die. They don't trust her or her ability and that's obvious. She can't expect  _ everyone _ to suddenly be as understanding as Kyoshi Island. It's okay.

…

...

"OF  _ COURSE I HAVE A POSTER!  _ The Earth Kingdom  _ HATES ME!"  _ She screamed

The passing villagers began giving the trio weird looks as Toph continued. Sokka and Katara chuckled nervously.

Sokka lifted Toph, who was still in his parka over his shoulder, "Oh you know kids are. Always so dramatic!" 

They then sped off, running around a corner and into an alley, stowing behind a few empty crates and trash cans.

The Water Tribe boy dropped his friend onto the ground, and Toph stayed sitting there, her face buried in her hands.

This was bad. Toph has a  _ wanted poster,  _ they were lucky they didn't get caught the moment they stepped in the village. 

"We can't burrow underground all the way to the Northern Water Tribe, we're gonna need to come up eventually. But we can't do that in the Earth Kingdom because everyone wants to trap me. This sucks," She grumbled, taking off Sokka's coat and handing it back to the boy who was standing over her. What were they gonna do? 

They couldn't just charge in through every town, taking risks time and time again. It wasn't safe and Toph wouldn't purposely put either of them in any sort of actual danger. They were lucky in Kyoshi Island, they were lucky that the people only wanted her and not them, she would rather herself be caged any day before she sees Sokka or Katara suffer at her expense. The Earthbender reached behind her back for her banjo before-

" _ No,"  _ Sokka warned, pointing at her, " _ No banjo" _

" _ IT MAKES ME FEEL BETTER, OKAY?!"  _

Katara sat down on the ground, sitting next to Toph. She rested a hand on her lap and smiled warmly, "Don't worry. We'll figure something out," She looked back at her brother, there had to be  _ something  _ they could do to work around this, "Sokka? You got any ideas?"

"Please tell me you got an idea in that big, smart, beautiful brain of yours, Warrior"

"Hmmm…" Sokka hummed, scratching his chin in thought. 

What if they…? No. That wouldn't work. But if they- Nope, they're tried that before. There had to be a way to get across the Earth Kingdom, village to village without getting caught…

Maybe they could say that Toph just  _ looked  _ like the Avatar and  _ just so happened _ to be blind as well? No, that's stupid. What if they gave her some glasses? Or something to cover her face. Like a...

"Disguise!" He snapped his fingers, face beaming with delight, "That's it! We need a disguise!"

________________

Sometime after, Sokka, Katara, and Toph came walking out of a small shop inside the village with the Waterbender leading out first, "Uh.. I dunno if this really counts as a disguise…" She sounded unsure as she held the door for the other two 

"It's not the  _ best  _ and it doesn't really cover Toph's face but if she keeps her head down, we should be fine" He said 

"I kinda like it" Toph followed after them, wearing a dark brown cloak. She clicked it around her neck and pulled up the hood, concealing her face. It was flowy and Katara made an off hand comment when inside how she looked nice in it… She had to keep telling herself it would work. 

Sokka sucked his teeth, "Well I'm glad you do. Because I had to spend the few coins we had to get it," He cried, "Now we don't have any money for food!"

"I know! Don't worry, Sokka!" Toph beamed

_ Finally!  _

She pulled out her banjo, "I got this!"

  
  
  
  


Now they stood on the corner of one of the many roads. Toph was sitting on the ground and Sokka and Katara stood near her, they watched as she emptied her bag and placed it down in front of her, beginning to tune her banjo.

This was gonna be so stupid. Sokka can't really be the only one who thinks this is completely ridiculous...

"No, nope. This is dumb and it  _ isn't  _ gonna work" He folded his arms and shook his head 

"You have any better ideas? You guys need money and I'm  _ providing" _ She strummed her strings 

The literal spirit of the world was going to play stupid songs for money on her stupid banjo. Is he the only one with even a  _ shred _ of dignity?

And of course Katara is gonna go along with it! She's as stupid as Toph! (And he was pretty sure they have a thing for each other) Why was he cursed with such an intelligent mind among idiots? 

"Now what kinda song should I do?  _ Rock?"  _ The Avatar (again, the  _ Avatar _ ) jammed a harsh tune, " _ Sloooow?  _ People love angst!" 

Katara giggled at Toph's clownery, "How about a love song?" Oh Spirits no. Katara, why must you be so disgusting. He's gonna have to be the one to suffer through it and have to sigh at this stupid kid's inevitable failure 

"No-" 

"Great idea!" 

Oh, how he hates puppy love. 

_ "Mountain tea flower you say it's home is bloom abundantly with mountain tea flowers-"  _

_ "Three mountains every spring-"  _

_ "The countryside field looks as if it's a drawing picture-" _

_ "The inner village girls go up the mountain to pick tea-" _

_ "Down at the hillsides of the mountain are ripped with poetic songs-" _

_ "17 years old age, 18 years old secretly whispering talks-" _

_ "Bashfully answer, bashfully answer-" _

_ "In the dreams is where you always meet her-"  _

Okay. Maybe Toph's not  _ completely  _ terrible. 

If being the Avatar doesn't work out, she has music fall back on at least (Sokka never thought he'd make a sentence like that one before). And better yet, the occasional passerby would drop a couple copper coins in the bag as well. This song may be the cornest thing he's ever heard but at least they're earning some money.

_ "The flower says that you are beautiful like a flower-" _

_ "It always hoped one day you will take it home with you-" _

_ "The inner village girls also can admire-" _

_ "Admiring you like the flower-" _

_ "17 years old age, 18 years old secretly whispering talks-" _

_ "Bashfully answer, bashfully answer-" _

_ "In the dreams is where you always meet her-"  _

_ "The flower merely hopes that you can be beautiful like the flower-" _

_ "I really hope one day to go home together with you-" _

_ "Inner village girls come out to welcome, welcome you this flower-" _

_ "17 years old age, 18 years old secretly whispering talks-" _

_ "Bashfully answer, bashfully answer-" _

_ "In the dreams is where you always meet her"  _

Toph played a couple chords before finishing. Sokka watched as his sister, face flushing in blush, smiled down at the girl, "Wow Toph! That was really good!" 

"Thanks! The song's name is  _ Shāncháhuā,  _ or Camellia Flower. It's pretty popular here in the Earth Kingdom," She said before prodding Sokka's legs with the base of her instrument, laughing, "See? I told you I was good" 

Sokka screeched, kicking Toph's back, "AURGH, shut up!" 

The two  idiots girls, continued gawfing before a man pushing a cart filled with masks and costumes stopped in front of them.

"I like your music, banjo kid," He dropped a couple coins into the bag, "You should play more at the festival tonight"

Katara looked at him, "Festival?" 

"You don't know about the Dōngzhì Festival?" 

"We're uh…" Sokka started, "Not from around here" 

"Ah, well the Dōngzhì Festival celebrates the Winter Solstice that'll be coming in a few days!" The man explained while digging through his cart, pulling something, "Here, banjo kid. Free of charge" 

He handed Toph a mask and she held it in her hands, grinning up at him, "Hey, thanks!"

He nodded his head in reciprocation, "I heard that the Avatar's powers are always at its strongest during the solstices" 

"Woah, really?" Toph gapped. She wasn't sure if she should be excited by that information or-

The man nodded, "Yeah. Maybe she'll finally be worth something- even if it is only for a day" He laughed, beginning to walk away, "Well, I have to be going. If you three happen to come tonight, pass by my stand, I'll sell you some masks"

Toph huffed, leaning against her banjo, wrapping her arms around it, "You know, he didn't  _ need  _ to say that last part," She blew some hair out of her face, " _ Just saying _ " All these people were so lucky that she was patient

"Well look on the bright side," Katara picked up the bag, "We have enough money for some food. We appreciate it" 

Sokka nodded as Toph stood up, "Yeah yeah, thanks for everything but Toph!" He yanked the mask out of her hands, and put it over her face, " _ There!  _ How's  _ that  _ for a bad disguise?" 

The Waterbender watched as the hooded girl turned to face her wearing the mask. The mask covered her entire face, and was a bright, mustard yellow. Black paint circled around the eyes and pointed out in a wing on either side, red was squared underneath the eyes and square in the middle of the forehead was a darkly coloured swirl with a single dot in the middle. There was also a large, toothy smile with red rimming around the lips. 

Toph looked like some mystical spirit or a thief and only a little bit silly, but in a cute way. She giggled, "Fine sokka,  _ you win _ . The disguise is only a  _ little  _ better now"

Sokka and Toph high fived.

________________

Zuko couldn't be more upset. Not only did he not get the Avatar, have warriors chase them off the island, but his idiotic men failed to capture the Avatar's oversized furball.

How could they not complete a  _ simple task.  _ It was just a dumb animal, how could it have done anything to scare or harm them?! It couldn't have! Sure, it may be huge but that's it's only advantage. It's an  _ animal _ . He thought he had men on his ship, but he supposed he only had cowards. 

And how could Uncle not realize that girl was the Avatar?! She was  _ blind  _ for Agni's sake. Out of all the children they've seen in villages while searching, how many of them were blind?  _ One! One was blind!  _ And that was the  _ Avatar!  _

She even had that stupid banjo with her! How could he not know?!

At least she hadn't gotten too far from the South Pole, now it'll be easier to know how fast they are traveling at.

"What exactly did you talk about with the Avatar, Uncle? Did she tell you where they were heading next?" The Prince asked for what felt like the thousandth time this week 

They were on the ship again, sailing near the coastline of the Earth Kingdom, hoping to spot another clue of where they were next. 

Iroh was sitting down in front of his Pai Sho board, playing against a crewmate, "I had a very nice conversation with her, Prince Zuko. We talked about the weather for a bit and the world, she is seems very wise," He said, "I'd love for us to talk more over a cup of tea" 

"WE DON'T HAVE TIME FOR TEA! I don't care that she's wise or about the weather! I care about where she is! Now do you have that information or not?!" 

"Uh well… No-"

"Then we need to keep searching for her! This is my chance. We know where she's heading- we know where she  _ was,  _ and Zhao is nearly at the Northern Water Tribe. There's still time for me to kill her before she gets there!"

Zuko turns on his heel, yelling out to the crew, who were all looking at him because of his latest outburst (they should really get used to it by now), "WHAT ARE YOU ALL STARING AT?!  _ SOMEONE GO START THE ENGINE!"  _

________________

From the moment the sun went behind the horizon, dropping for the night and the sky painted black, filling with stars; the Dōngzhì Festival began. 

The village came alive- lanterns lit up every dark corner, people danced and marched through the streets, screaming, shouting, singing. Various kinds of instruments that none of them have even  _ heard  _ of before blared, boomed and played. Nothing was still and it sure as Hell wasn't quiet. A variety of market stands lined up, selling men and women alike sold vibrant masks, delicious food, and colourful costumes.

"There's so many people here! Toph grinned, though no one was able to see because of her mask 

"Yeah, it's beautiful" Katara stared ahead in awe, taking in all the sights 

Sokka held a piece of paper up to his face, reading off it, " _ The Dōngzhì Festival, or the Winter Solstice Festival is a celebration celebrated throughout the Earth Kingdom. Though how people may practice it varies from city to city, one thing is most important; The Winter Solstice. The days start becoming longer and the nights shorter as spring approaches. This is sacred for the Earth Kingdom people- who depend heavily on agriculture, as they welcome the return of the Earth and sun which will help the crops after the lower temperatures begin to rise."  _

The three began roaming through the high spirited town, "We celebrated  _ Dōngzhì  _ back home too. But never like this, I  _ wish _ Gaoling threw festivals!" 

"What happened usually then?" Katara asked 

"All my dads' families would come over and we'd eat together," She said, "Though, the thing I remember most were my grandmas' pinching my cheeks a  _ lot" _ The girl rubbed her mask where her cheeks would be as if she could still feel the painful granny pinching… (she wondered if she would ever have the chance to endure the cheek pinches again)

The Waterbender chuckled before Sokka pushed himself in between the two, "Oooo! Look at those!" His stare was straight ahead and he was practically drooling 

He led them both to a market stand with delicious smelling food. In a dozen of trays sat hundreds of medium sized, brightly coloured balls. Most of them were dyed a mint green or a pale pink, though there were a few that were blue, orange and yellow. Katara looked at the woman behind the counter as Sokka continued to drool, "What're these?" 

" _ Tangyuan,  _ made of glutinous rice flour in honor of the spring harvest soon" The lady explained 

" _ Ahahaa _ ! How much?" Sokka asked enthusiastically

"Six copper coins" 

" _ What?!  _ That's robbery, lady!  _ Three!"  _

The woman frowned her brow, "They sell for six coins" 

"Well I say that's too much!"

"I'm not lowering my price for you, boy" 

"Well you should! Do I look like I'm made of money?!" He shouted which was funny of him to say considering _ he  _ was the one holding the little money they had together 

"Oh boy. Looks like we're gonna be here a while" Toph commented to Katara, to which the Waterbender smiled 

"Sokka won't care if we're gone for a while. Come on, it's a festival. We should enjoy ourselves!" She grabbed the blind girl's hand and began pulling her off down the road. 

  
  
  
  


Katara and Toph walked for a while, perusing through the festivities and glancing over at the many carts and stands. There were so many things to see and do, neither of the two had even heard before, having never been to an  _ actual _ festival before. Toph was so amazed by it all that she pushed all the thoughts of the old man, Zuko, being the Cursed Avatar, being  _ alone _ in the back of her brain.

Today was different, today wasn't Kyoshi Island or her last day of Earth Rumble or even the day she was welcomed to the Southern Water Tribe. 

The girls eventually found themselves standing under the overhang of one of the many closed shops due to the holiday. They faced the road, watching as people made their way past them, all more adorned with bright fabrics and complicated masks than the last. 

"I can't get over how pretty it all is" Katara spoke and Toph had just noticed that they were still holding hands, even though they had stopped a few minutes ago already 

Her hand felt so nice in her own. It was cold, but in a good way- if that made sense. She was lucky that Katara had long taken off her gloves or else she wouldn't have been able to relish in such a glorious feeling. She could feel her very blood begin to sing under her skin, she could feel Katara's steady heart accompanied by her shave breathing, she could feel the ants crawling in the dirt a couple meters away, she could feel to pushing and stomping of the people in the road in front of them, she was suddenly feeling all too aware of every little thing.

"Yeah, it's all so cool. I'm happy we're having a good night, after that disaster at Kyoshi Island" She smiled from under her mask

_ "Annnd _ that we've been underground doing nothing but traveling for a whole  _ week" _ She joined smugly 

"Yeaaaah, you know how it is," The Earthbender then jokingly added, "I'm beating the boys off with a stick they're so crazy about me" 

She heard the girl suck her teeth and was sure she just rolled her eyes, "I don't think I'd call that Zuko guy who's trying to kill you  _ crazy about you"  _ She felt Katara give her hand an unconscious squeeze 

Well, Toph wouldn't call it that either but it's easier to joke about it rather than actually allow that  _ the guy who killed her parents is after her now _ sink in even further than it already has at this point, "You say tomato, I say that I have  _ many  _ romantic admirers" 

" _ Riiiight  _ and  _ that's  _ why you're wearing this disguise. Because you have to  _ physically fend them off _ instead of actually,  _ you know,"  _ She could hear her smile, "Hiding from an entire kingdom that wants you in prison"

"What can I say? I'm  _ irresistible"  _

Katara laughed, "Yeah, alright. You're  _ irresistible  _ alright"

"Hey! It's you, Banjo Kid!" The mask merchant from earlier today came up to the two, "I recognize one of my masks anywhere. Good to see you wearing it! And I'm glad to see you and your girlfriend decided to show up!"

"Uh…"

"She's not my girlfriend!" 

… 

"Then why are you two holding hands?

Both jumped, yanking their hands away from the other as if burnt, completely silent. 

Toph was lucky that the mask hid her face, she wouldn't have known what to do with herself if Katara saw how red her face had gotten or if she saw how much her jaw dropped. She could tell that the Waterbender had felt embarrassed as well, if her increased heartbeat was any indication.

The man blinked, deciding to ignore the strange kids' antics, "Anyway, come play in front of my stand, Banjo Kid! Your music'll help me attract some customers!" 

(Toph was sure that if Sokka was here, he would say something like _'don't you mean_ _'COSTUME-ers'_? And it would have been hilarious) 

She shook off the awkwardness, "Sure!" Toph agreed, taking her banjo out from its place behind her back, she turned to Katara, "Wanna come along?" 

Katara nods, "As long as I don't get mistaken as your girlfriend, sure" She joked 

Toph laughed, running off in the direction the man had gone in. Katara grinned and began to chase after her. The two howled with laughter as they ran through the road and past the crowd. 

Occasionally, Katara would dash past Toph, but Toph would catch up, shoving the Waterbender, but then she would drive her elbow in the Avatar's side and cause her to shout. 

But then Toph tripped. Tripped on the cloak that was too long for her short legs. She fell and slammed her chin against the hard ground with an audible, " _Oof-!"_

Katara stopped short, coming back to her. She held her hand out, "Are you okay?" 

Toph accepted her hand, standing up. She laughed, rubbing the back of her neck, "Yeah,  _ stupid cloak"  _ Her last comment caused the taller girl to giggle

People began gasping and Toph felt the feet around them freeze. 

" _ Cursed Avatar!"  _ She heard the mask merchant shout.  _ What? _ Oh sh-

Toph's eyes widened and felt her face frantically.  _ Where's her mask? Fuck _ , it must've flew off when she hit the ground! 

_ Nooooooo, not this crap again _ .  _ This was supposed to be a normal night.  _

"I think you know the drill by now, come on!" The Earthbender grabbed Katara's hand and began just  _ running,  _ snatching her mask up off the dirt as she went. 

She felt them chasing them, she heard the angry screams and curses as they went. Alright, alright. All they need to do is find Sokka and they could get out of here, safe and sound! 

While the mini mob continued their pursuit, hot on their trail, they yelled obscenities, 

"GET OUTTA HERE, AVATAR! YOU AND YOUR WATER TRIBE PEASANT!"

"YOU'RE RUINING OUR FESTIVAL!" 

Still sprinting, Katara pointed ahead of them, "There!" She pointed to where her brother was located. Thank Oma and Shu, he was still arguing with that lady over the price of those tangyuans (they were lucky he was so stingy). 

" _ SOKKKKAAAAAAA! WE'RE LEAVING, BUDDY!"  _ The Avatar screamed as they rushed up to him 

"Hang on a second guys, I almost got this-" He whipped around on his heels… Only to be met with his sister and his friend getting chased down by an angry mob… Running right towards him. He screeched, " _ RAAAAAAA!"  _

Toph, without stopping, scooped him up over her shoulder and continued speeding off, still holding Katara's hand. 

" _ AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!"  _ They screamed

________________

"Welp… That sucked" 

"Agreed"

"You said it" 

The three laid low outside the village in the woods, using the mass of trees as coverage. Katara took off her parka in disgust, they were all covered in paint and food, the townspeople through everything that probably wasn't bolted down at the children during their escape. 

Toph collapsed to the ground, Wander walking up to her and beginning to eat the food off her with his tongue.

"Hey, at least Wander's got a good idea," Sokka said before taking off a scrap of a tangyuan out of his hair and eating it, "I got my tangyuan! And for free too!" 

"That's great, Sokka," Katara laid face first on the grass, letting out a muffled groan, "We gotta get better at this"

Toph lightly pet her Badgermole's head, dropping her mask and cloak by her side, "Totally…" 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You really thought I was gonna give Toph a banjo and NOT have her sing something? WRONG!!!!! Have you ever heard Toph's voice actor (Michaela Jill Murphy) sing? Its AMAZING!!! I couldn't just NOT have her sing something!
> 
> And yes Toph and Katara held hands while Sokka was off somewhere trying to get a lower deal on food, I love them all
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Be sure to leave comments, I love to hear your thoughts!!
> 
> And check out thecursedavatar on tumblr to get a look on what Toph's mask in this looks like!


	8. Get that Avatar!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the mess in the village celebrating the Dongzhi Festival and a good part of their stay at Kyoshi Island, Toph, Sokka, and Katara try to stay away from villages to stay out of trouble. But problems always seem to find them, more so since it is the night of the Winter Solstice. 
> 
> Hijinks ensue.

Sokka, Katara, Toph and Wander had stopped in the middle of the woods a couple hours ago, deciding to set up camp earlier than usual. At this point, they were halfway through the Earth Kingdom. 

After everything that happened with Kyoshi Island and the Dōngzhì Festival, the trio decided that it would be easier (and not to mention _safer)_ if they stuck to the woods when traveling above ground. Their plan was to skip every three villages and to gather supplies on the fourth. And so far, it has been working effectively. 

The sun was in the middle of setting for the day as it was late afternoon and the three huddled around camp. There were two sleeping sacks sprawled out on the ground.

Katara and Toph were gently pushing and pulling a glob of floating water between themselves, an effort of practice. Wander was laying on his back, basking in the sunlight before it set completely, and Sokka was planning some stuff, talking about what they're gonna need since their next village will be the one they stop at. They're gonna have to be quick, in and-

Katara pushed the water back to Toph, " _ We know _ , Sokka.  _ In and out.  _ We're not gonna reach the village for a few more days anyway"

"Yeah, Katara's is right. Can't you just tell us the plan for the  _ thousandth _ time when we're  _ there? _

"It's never too early to start preparing! Now come here, you two idiots!"

________________

Zuko was in his room, standing over a map and marking it up with a brush. He was keeping track of where the Avatar and those Water Tribe teenagers were traveling. He knows they're destination is to the Northern Water Tribe but if he could catch them before they reach it- it will be an easier fight and he will be able to kill her before Zhao does.

The Prince assumed that Zhao was near the Northern Earth Kingdom tip by now, if not then already loitering around the Northern Tribe. Zuko still has a chance- a chance to kill her  _ before _ Zhao. 

And when he does, he'll send  _ him  _ her eyes- just as Zhao planned to do as per his letter (and thankfully, Zuko didn't receive anymore writings from that fucking asshole).

________________

It's late now. Several hours have passed since and Sokka and Katara were rolled into their sleeping sacks, Toph was a little off to the side, her back against the ground (she prefers the dirt). Sounds of nature filled the air and underground alike; bellowing birds, calling winds, snoring bugs.

Katara stared up at the moon, counting the stars through the trees, "I just remembered- today's the Winter Solstice"

Sokka yawned, "Yeah, so?" 

"Don't you guys remember what that village said about the Solstice? The Avatar's powers increase during it" 

Toph's hands rested behind her head, "Oh yeah. I wonder how much more stronger I would've gotten" 

"Well," Sokka flipped over to his stomach, propping his chin on his hands and looking over to his small friend, "Do you feel any different? Now that the moon's out?'

She paused for a second then shrugged, "Nope. Maybe I'm strong enough as it is" She laughed 

Katara smiled and rolled her eyes, "I wonder what they meant by the Avatar's powers increasing. Maybe it'll be easier to be in control during the Avatar State?"

Toph sucked her teeth in discomfort, she hated thinking about the Avatar State. Everytime she goes in it, it's all a blur- she could hardly remember what happened when she was in it. It gets all hazy, kinda like a dream. But at the same time, she's all  _ too  _ aware of every little thing, every little feeling, every thought that doesn't feel like her own. She could feel everything but nothing at the same time, she wasn't in control when she wanted to be. Toph never wanted to hurt anyone, especially when it's because her emotions get a little too out of hand and she starts  _ floating _ or something.

"Maybe" Maybe she could give it a try- try to gain control of the state. If she can control it during a solstice, that means she could control it any other day (though it'll be harder- but still plausible)

Should she really try? What does she have to lose honestly? If she doesn't get it, no one will get hurt. If she does get it- well, she'll have to take it from there and be careful not to destroy anything. 

She closed her eyes (not that it did anything really) and began focusing on her breath, deciding to stay lying down. 

_ Just focus _ . Come on Avatar State, work with her here. It would be really good if she was able to control that, then she wouldn't have to push down stupid negative feelings in fear of a pyshic out burst emerging and potentially harming the people she loved. It would be  _ incredibly _ useful to have that control on her side (and name an Avatar that mastered it at 12 years old, that would give her major bragging rights).

Toph took another deep breath.

________________

Not too much time has passed since the trio's previous conversation on the Avatar State, now they were all still trying to fall asleep.

"You ever think about lemurs having friends?" Sokka asked 

Again,  _ trying  _ to fall asleep. But they're kids, they have questions- and  _ especially  _ Sokka. Katara's gotten used to his weird, constant askings long ago but Toph has definitely not. Usually she just laughs off his queries and responds with either an outlandish answer or an equally as unprovoked question to add on to the chaos (and Katara's headache). 

Katara thought it was a strange question but again, she's used to it. And her brother was a strange boy, plus it was late and she didn't feel like telling him to shut up, "I hope they do. Sounds lonely if they don't" 

"That's what I was thinking, what about you, Toph?" 

… 

"Toph?" Katara was the one who called out this time, she was probably asleep but she sat up to check on her friend just to make sure 

It seems that Sokka had gotten the same bad feeling as her because they were both standing on their feet in two seconds flat, slowly peering over to their tiny Earthbending friend. 

And what they saw caused them both to jump. 

Toph laid still on the ground, in the same spot she was in from before. But something was different. She was stiff and stone faced, devoid of any emotion just…  _ blank.  _

And her eyes were glowing. 

" _ AH! AVATAR STATE!"  _ Sokka jumped backwards, grabbing Katara with him to keep them both out of harm's way but… 

Toph wasn't  _ doing anything _ . She was just lying there… still. 

"Uh… Doesn't when Toph goes into the Avatar State, she trashes everything?" He asked cautiously, "Why isn't she moving?"

"I dunno," The Waterbender said, perplexed. They both slowly creeped back in front of Toph, "Maybe something's wrong?" But what could be wrong and why is it only happening now?

What was wrong with Toph..? Why was she just laying on the ground, eyes glowing? It was weird and kinda freaky- she felt like those dumb kids in the scary stories that Dad used to tell them when they were younger. The ones who would make Sokka and Katara scream about how  _ stupid they were!  _ That they would  _ never do that!  _ But here they are, walking towards their friend with glowing eyes _.  _

But this was different. This was Toph, their  _ friend _ . She wouldn't purposely hurt them- but she could on accident and that was scary. But the need to know if she was alright outweighed any fear or anxiety. 

"Should we… try and snap her out of it?" Sokka asked 

"I dunno if that's-" Katara cut herself off because Sokka walked right past her and keeled on the ground next to Toph, "Or you could just  _ ignore me, _ that's fine too" 

Sokka gently grabbed Toph's shoulders and Katara watched with a quiet curiosity as he… 

Violently began shaking her back and forth, her body jerking around like a rag doll, " _ HEY TOPH, ARE YOU OKAAAAAY? WAKE UP!"  _

" _ SOKKA!"  _

________________

Okay. Why can't Toph see? 

All she was trying to do was activate the Avatar State, now all of a sudden she has no idea why her seismic sense isn't working. It's never done this before, what the fuck happened? 

Toph stood up, "Hey guys. I think my feet broke-" 

" _ AH! AVATAR STATE!"  _ She jumped as she heard Sokka scream (who was apparently right in front of her now?) 

"WHAT?! Where?!- wait" She paused, what Avatar State? Toph couldn't activate it. Unless she did… and didn't realize? She doesn't know, she's just spitballing right now 

_ "Uh… Doesn't when Toph goes into the Avatar State, she trashes everything?" _ He asked cautiously, " _ Why isn't she moving?" _

_ "I dunno"  _

"Um,  _ hello.  _ I'm moving right now, you idiots," Toph followed the sound of the Water Tribe siblings' voices, she stood in front of Katara. When she didn't hear Katara react to her, she waved her hand in front of her face, " _ Helllllo.  _ Waterbug?" 

_ "Maybe something's wrong?"  _ She heard Katara speak to her brother, and not her 

"Are you guys ignoring me or something? Was it because I gave the last piece of your seal jerky to Wander, Sokka?" 

What the hell was wrong with them? If they were actually upset with her, why didn't they just say something? Did they  _ have _ to be petty and ignore her?

_ "Should we… try and snap her out of it?" _ Sokka asked 

" _ That's it, _ " Toph stomped up to Sokka, pointing in his face, "Listen, if you're angry with me,  _ fine! _ But don't go playing this stupid ignoring game just to make me mad! We'll get you more seal jerky, Wander was just hungry!" 

_ "I dunno if that's…" _ She whipped her head around at Katara

"And why are you doing it too?! Did I do something to you too-" Toph froze as she felt Sokka… 

_ Walk  _ through her. Like, right through, completely.  _ Like a door.  _ What the fuck? What the  _ fuck? _ Is she dead? Is she a ghost now, when did she die? Did Zuko come?! Did he kill her in her sleep?!

_ "Or you could just ignore me, that's fine too"  _ She heard Katara huff

What happened to her? Maybe Toph just felt something else? Her feet aren't working, maybe all her other senses are getting junked up too? What if- 

" _ HEY TOPH, ARE YOU OKAAAAAY? WAKE UP!"  _

" _ SOKKA!"  _ Katara screeched, dashing right through Toph in the same way Sokka just did 

Okay, so now she  _ knows _ that she wasn't just feeling things. They actually just  _ walked  _ through her. 

So she doesn't have her seismic sense, no one hears her, and people are walking through her. Sounds a lot similar to when she lived with her blood parents- wait, no time for jokes. What the  _ fuck  _ ws happening? 

" _ You could snap her neck shaking her like that!" _ The Waterbender shouted and she heard a hard thump. Katara must've punched Sokka in the arm 

" _ GUYS, GUYS!  _ I think I died-!" Toph frantically ran up to them, then paused, "Oh wait. They won't be able to hear me"

" _ Well what do you suppose we do?!"  _

_ "I dunno! Just not shake her so hard like that!" _ Katara said, then took a breath, " _ Look, I saw a lake before over in that direction. Let's go get some water, maybe splashing it on her will wake her up"  _

_ "Alright alright," _ Sokka huffed, she heard footsteps, " _ I'll pack up the sacks, you wake Wander. We might as well pack up and continue moving then if this is gonna be an all nighter problem"  _

"I guess I'm just following them till we figure out how to solve this…" Toph grumbled 

She knows she's said it before but, what the _ fuck?  _ What is she gonna do? How did this even happen to her? Oh,  _ why _ did she  _ have  _ to try to go into the Avatar State? How are they gonna solve this if she can't even tell them that she hears them and is  _ kinda _ a ghost?

Toph doesn't think she's leaving a footprint or really any marks anywhere, so she can't even give them a sign to let them know she's- you know- not dead (Or at least not trapped in the Avatar State because apparently her eyes were glowing like how it does when she enters it?) Plus even if she could, what was she gonna do? Kick a rock? She can't write. 

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

  
  
  
  


In about five minutes, the two were done packing and she heard Sokka tell Katara to put Toph on Wander's back, Katara protested, saying she could carry her (of course she did. Katara cares so much that it makes Toph's heart want to explode). But Sokka argued that if this problem was gonna last possibly all night, they would both need their strength. So his sister reluctantly agreed. 

She listened to Wander whine sadly as Toph's (physical?) Body was placed on him. He knew something was wrong (badgermoles are smart). And Toph just wanted to let him and tell him not to worry- but of course she  _ couldn't  _ because the universe just  _ hates her  _ for some reason (which she will never understand because hey, she's amazing). 

Then Toph followed the three (four counting her own body) the best that she could through the crowded forest.

It was hard, being unable to sense where they were or even where this lake presumably was. Sokka and Katara didn't talk much either- they were probably too confused about what was going on to say much of anything. 

The only thing that Toph had to go upon was the thuds of Wander's footsteps and crunching leaves. 

_ "So how far's the lake again?"  _

_ "Uh, I dunno. Not that far, it took me probably 15 minutes to find it earlier" _

_ "Yeah but that was in broad daylight" _ Sokka groaned 

Toph could have  _ sworn  _ that she was following right behind them, but she was wrong. They were nearly 80 meters away from where she currently was. Shit. 

The Earthbender ran in the direction that she heard her friends in, desperate not to get separated.

Toph stayed still, straining her ears for their next movements. She listened and waited. 

_"Oh quit whining. We should be there soon"_ _Katara_

Toph darted off in their general path again. She was gonna get them, she can't worry. She  _ has  _ them, she could  _ hear  _ them, and they're fine. She's got this, she's- 

_ BAM  _

She's slammed right into a tree.  _ Dammit _ . She fell to the ground and stood back up, rubbing her nose. They weren't getting out of her sight (Or, her ears in this context). 

After a couple more minutes of blindly following noises. Toph was nearly horrified to discover that there were no more sounds; no more talking, or complaining or stomping. Had she gotten lost along the way?  _ Where was she? _

Her heart raced and fear began to creep up and-  _ no.  _ She wasn't lost. She just needed to find them again, simple. Toph stopped again and took a deep breath- She wouldn't be able to listen properly if she wasn't calm. 

… 

…

…

_ Bom  _

_ Bom  _

_ Bom  _

Her eyes shot open-  _ stomping.  _ It was stomping!  _ Wander!  _ Toph turned on her heel and chased after the sound, she thanked every star in that great big sky and apologized to the universe for ever believing that it hated her! 

She was  _ okay!  _ And the rest weren't too far off! This is fine! They'll solve this problem, Toph will get her body back and she'll never have to think about this terrifying night without her sight again-

_ "Grrraagghh…"  _ A tired armadillo-bear yawned 

Her heart dropped.

That stomping...

All this time, was she just chasing… 

An  _ armadillo-bear… _ ?

The Avatar fell to the ground and buried her face in hands and let out a long groan, "That's it. I'm lost" 

Toph knew she shouldn't say that. That she should get up and keep searching. And she will, just let her wallow for a little bit. 

What if she never finds her friends? What if she never finds her body? What if the Fire Nation got them? What if they were already captured and dead?! 

Alright- enough wallowing, she snapped herself out of the depressive state with fear and anxiety. All her nerves were on edge. This is fine. 

All she needs to do is follow her simple plan; find them. Easy, she couldn't have strayed  _ that  _ far right? Well… She  _ did  _ run for a while after that armadillo-bear… No matter, she'll find them. Who doesn't like a challenge, right? 

" _ I'M COMING YOU GUYS! DON'T WORRY!"  _ She screamed to no one as Toph jumped to her feet and began charging in a direction not yet planned 

She'll get them, she  _ has  _ to get them. Because if she doesn't, then her dads died for nothing- then she would have broken Sokka and Katara's Grandma's trust in her- then she won't ever get to the Northern Water Tribe and master Water- then- 

" _ Oof-!"  _ She fell back on the grass, grumbling, " _ Stupid trees"  _

Her thens had gotten caught off because she slammed into  _ another  _ thing-

"Nice to see you, Toph"

That didn't sound like a tree.

Her eyes widened in surprise.

________________

Zuko stared through his telescope, standing over the edge of the ship deck. 

"You should go to bed, Prince Zuko" 

The 16 year old scoffed, not even bothering to turn around. Why should he? He had an Avatar to hunt, and why is  _ Uncle  _ telling  _ him  _ to sleep when he was up as well? Why is Iroh awake? The most important thing he was concerned about was when he was having his next cup of tea. Zuko is doing  _ real work _ and that is more than he could ever say for his Uncle. 

He studied the shoreline of the Earth Kingdom land, it was hard to see because of the dark and the equally dark forest. But then-

His eyes widened- he saw three moving dots- two blue and one big and brown- emerge from the forest and stop at the nearby lake. He focused the telescope onto the movement.

It was those Water Tribe idiots! And that stupid animal! But where was- 

_ The Avatar!  _ The Avatar was lying on the badgermole's back, she appeared to be unconscious and wasn't moving. 

Zuko threw down the telescope to the floor. He turned on his heel, finally facing the old man- to which he jumped slightly. 

He whipped a pointed finger over to the lake, " _ The Avatar is here"  _

Iroh nodded slightly, "I'll wake the crew" 

"FORGET THE CREW!" Zuko cried, "There's no time! They'll only slow us down!" Those good for nothing men cannot even catch a dumb animal, he doubts they wouldn't even be able to catch a small blind girl- who was  _ unconscious mind you!  _

"But Prince Zuko, today is the day of the Winter Solstice. The Avatar's powers are at their strongest during the celestial days" 

What was he trying to do?  _ Scare him? _ Zuko is crown Prince of the Fire Nation, he doesn't know fear, "I don't care. When I kill her, it won't matter how strong she is" 

_ "The Cursed Avatar's days ends here" _ Zuko growled

________________

Okay, now she was really confused. So…  _ what?  _ People could see her again? Did she hit her head and just  _ dream  _ she went invisible? (Ew, what a nightmare that sounded like) No, she couldn't be- she still can't use her seismic sense. If she was dreaming, her feet should have been working again. So why weren't they? Was she actually dead? Wait, then how'd she bump into-

"What's…  _ Happening?"  _ She squinted her eyes suspiciously, "Am I dead, Gyatso? Was I actually mauled by that armadillo-bear?" Maybe Gyatso will have the answers she was- 

Wait,  _ Gyatso? Avatar Gyatso?  _

Now she  _ knows  _ she hit her head and died. How did she even know it was him? She couldn't even sense anything! 

The girl heard him chuckling warmly, grabbing her hand and helping her up, "No, you're not dead. Not yet that is" Which did nothing to sooth her racing mind

"Well that's great, I didn't feel like dying anyway. But what about you? Aren't you…" She hesitated, " _ Dead?  _ Like a  _ hundred years _ dead? How am I talking to you- why are you even here? Why can't anyone hear me, where're my friends and why aren't my stupid feet working!?" 

Toph took several large steps forward and got right in the monk's face. Personal space, what's that? Toph's never met her (she supposed that's what happens when you're raised by pack animals and six parents).

"All will be answered. You must be patient, I know you of all people know  _ that,"  _ She could hear his smile, "Would you like to sit down with me?"

The child shook her head, "I can't, I need to find my friends. I lost them when they were carrying my body to some lake or something," She grabbed his old hand, tugging on it and beginning to lead him off, "And I can't use my seismic sense because it isn't working! Take me to where they are, Gyatso!"

"Wa-wait! Aren't you curious to know what's happening?"

"Course! But my friends gotta come first, they have me and they might get caught by this crazy guy who screams a lot!" She continued trudging on, dragging him along still, "Explain to me while we walk!" 

"Wuh, I- alright," He agreed, beginning to find a quicker pace in order to not get manhandled by a 12 year old with tiny hands, "There are two realities; the mortal realm and the Spirit World. The mortal realm is where you and all the people you know live. The spirit world- watch out for that tree- is where spirits live. Humans can't get to the Spirit world, only the Avatar can- their spirit leaves their physical body and is transported to the other world"

"So what?" Toph walked, "I'm in the Spirit World? How- Oh… the Solstice. When I was trying to activate my Avatar State…"

"You accidentally entered the Spirit World instead. Don't worry, you'll be able to control both eventually. Entering the Spirit World is actually much easier than mastering the Avatar State"

That's funny considering the Avatar State is just some state of being where your eyes glow and you get to fly while entering the Spirit World is basically crossing through an interdimensional plane of existence beyond simple, mortal comprehension where all is different and spirits roam freely. 

"And I can travel to the Spirit World  _ by… _ " 

"Meditation and practice is the easiest method. And in order to get back to the physical world, you must find your physical body so it and your spirit can rejoin once again," Gyatso explained, "But when in the Spirit World, you can't interact with things of the mortal realm or bend, that's why your friends cannot hear you and your seismic sense isn't working" 

"Huh. Well that explains a lot," Toph stopped walking for a moment to properly speak to the Airbender, "Makes it a lot harder to get around though, since I can't use anything to help me see" 

"Don't worry. When I realized you were here, I brought something else along," Toph then felt something press into her hand, it was a…long stick, "Huh, that's… actually really helpful, thanks!" Her fingers grasped onto it tightly and she let go of the man's hand

"Courtesy of the Spirit World!" He laughed and they continued walking, now side by side with Toph using the stick as a walking stick, "But I didn't come here to just help you. Avatars must speak with their past lives for guidance, inside  _ and _ outside the Spirit World"

"And let me guess, I do that through meditation?"

"Of course!" He beamed, "The most important Avatar the current Avatar must communicate with is the Avatar who last lived in the Avatar cycle- I just said  _ Avatar  _ a lot"

Toph's stick hit the bark of a tree and she stepped over a thick root, " _ The Avatar who last lived in the Avatar cycle?  _ But wouldn't that be Avatar Kuruk? Where's he? Shouldn't he be the one talking to me then?"

"Uh… He's rather er," Gyatso paused, searching for the right words, " _ Embarrassed  _ about speaking with you right now. But you'll meet him soon enough"

Well, why in the world is he embarrassed? What does he have to be ashamed about? Was it because he was nervous about being an Avatar guide? (He knew he was going to have to do it eventually)

Has he seen her life (can Avatars' watch the lives of the current? Is that something they could do?) And wasn't impressed? That would be ridiculous, Toph is incredible- she's an Earth Rumble champion and she mastered Earthbending right from the source! She's amazing!

Just  _ wait _ till she meets Kuruk...

________________

"Alright Katara, we got Toph's body to the lake," Sokka said as he grabbed Toph's unmoving person from off of Wander (her eyes were still glowing which made him shiver, it was still really creepy to look at), "What now?"

"I dunno, I figured that we could splash her with some water to wake her up but…" Katara thought (that's a surprise) for a moment, "But if she hasn't woken up by now after the bumpy ride Wander is then, I don't think a little water will…"

What if Toph never wakes up? How long should whatever this is last? Is this just some kinda weird Avatar thing that just  _ happens? _ Toph has never been in the Avatar State for this long (and not completely destroy everything). What the  _ fuck  _ do they do? 

"Well let's just try it just in case," Sokka said, dropping Toph like a sack of potatoes on ground near the lake, "Do your thing" 

"SOKKA!'

"You know, I meant Waterbending, not screaming" 

"You can't just  _ drop  _ people on the ground like that!" Katara put her hands on her hips, her back facing the water

"Oh come on, are we really gonna fight about this? Toph's fine, she's dur…  _ able..."  _

"That's not the point, Sokka!" Katara shouted, noticing that her brother was looking at something behind her. She turned her head, still screaming, "It doesn't matter if she could handle it! It's the thought that-..." 

_ Oh fuck.  _

Smoke could be vaguely seen from the trees.

The two stood, frozen in place. It was silent and they watched from the trees. 

_ Please don't be what they think it is. Please don't be what they think it is. Please don't be what they think it is. Please don't-  _

_ BOOM!  _

A ball of fire shot out from through the trees, " _ DUCK!"  _ Sokka screeched, jumping onto Katara and shoving them both down to the ground 

"Give me the Avatar, or  _ else _ " Zuko snarled, walking outside the forest and to the lake, where the trio plus Wander were. His uncle followed after him, waking with much less attitude 

"You think we'd just hand Toph over to you like that!?" Katara yelled, standing in front of Toph's body 

"Yes, I do. Because if you don't," Zuko's shoulders stiffened and he pushed his weight onto the foot behind him, "You'll die-

_ BONK _

" _ Oof!"  _ Zuko lost his balance, falling to the dirt with a heavy  _ THUD  _ as Sokka's boomerang collided with his head 

Sokka caught his boomerang and threw a limp Toph over his shoulder, "Come on!" 

"Are you alright, Prince Zuko?" His uncle asked, bending down to look at the boy 

" _ GRRR, I'M FINE!"  _ He jumped to his feet, shoving his Uncle away, "THEY'RE GETTING AWAY!" 

He pursued after the group with the utmost fury into the woods.

"Shit, shit, shit,  _ shit!  _ Katara! We could really use some bending right about now!" Sokka called from in front of his sister. If they had a moment to stop and breathe, they would have gotten onto Wander but they can't, not with this Hot-faced weirdo chasing after him (and old man, who is doing more of a casual stroll through) 

"On it!" 

Katara stopped for a moment, turning around and swaying her arms quickly. She had been practicing, the water came out of her canteen and flew towards the teenager. She hardened her stance and Zuko's feet froze to the floor. 

She began catching up with her brother, unconscious friend and giant badgermole (strange sentence but then again, Toph's eyes are glowing and they're getting chased after by some boy with a ponytail who could shoot fire).

" _ RAAAAAAAAAH!" _ They heard the boy cry out from behind them, his voice growing smaller and smaller the further they got 

Sokka and Katara nearly laughed. They were nearly away from this crazy person and they were all safe and-!

_ FWOSH!  _

Fire shot passed them and Sokka stumbled and Katara crashed into him, both of them tumbling to the ground with Toph a couple feet away as the boy had dropped her on impact. At least Zuko missed-

The sound of wood cracking filled their ears and their heads spun to the source and their lungs got caught in their throats at the sight. 

The fire that had soared past them had landed on the bark of a tall, thick tree. And the terrifying realization had dawned over them. 

_ The shot wasn't meant for them.  _

The roots quickly dislodged from their home in the ground and the tree collapsed. 

" _ AAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"  _ The siblings screamed in unison, wrapping their arms around each other in their final moments 

_ CRACK!  _

A thundering crack had echoed through the woods as Wander jumped on top of Sokka and Katara, stomping on the ground and a pillar of hardened dirt had shot up from the Earth, splitting the wood in two. 

" _ NO!"  _ Zuko screeched

_ "Wander!"  _ Sokka jumped up in cheer, hugging the thick mass of fur

"We're alive! Holy shit! We're alive!" Katara laughed before she felt Sokka yank her hand, they climbed onto the badgermole 

"I can't believe we fucking survived that!" Sokka said after he and his sister hoisted up onto Wander 

"I know!" Katara held Sokka's waist with one hand and was about to tell Zuko to go fuck himself but then she realized- 

"Wait, where the _FUCK IS TOPH?!"_ She screamed, frantically looking from above Wander 

"Oh  _ shit" _ Sokka whispered as he and Zuko made direct eye contact as the Firebender grabbed the small girl 

" _ TOPH!"  _ The Waterbender cried out, and she pushed herself away from her brother- trying to get off the animal, but Sokka grabbed her arm. She struggled against his grip, " _ SOKKA, FUCK OFF!" _

_ "No Katara, calm down!" _

The last thing Katara could see before Wander burrowed deep underneath the Earth was Zuko's evil smirk as he carried Toph on his back. 

After what felt like an eternity of digging, the three finally stopped and the Waterbender shoved her brother, causing him to fall off the badgermole and onto the cavern floors

"What's  _ wrong _ with you?!" She climbed off, standing in front of Sokka, eyes prickling with tears, "How could you let us go without Toph!? Why didn't you let me get her?!" 

"Katara listen-!"

"No,  _ you listen!  _ You made us  _ leave  _ Toph with the  _ motherfucker who wants to kill her!  _ How could you think that's okay?!" She pointed her hands against his chest, "We have to go back and get her! We-we-"

" _ Katara,"  _ Sokka grabbed her by the wrists and she looked up at him, he looked as if he was on the verge of tears, "We  _ had  _ to. There was-... There was no time to go back. Look at Wander, you think  _ he  _ wanted to leave her? No, of course not! But he knew we  _ had  _ to, Earthbending needs patience and if Wander could do it, so could we," He wrapped his arms around her, pulling his sister into a hug. He sobbed into her hair, "We'll get her back. I promise"

They were gonna get her back. They had to. Katara accepted her brother's embrace, crying into his chest. 

She just hoped that Toph would be okay until they find her. 

________________

Who knew how hard finding people without seismic sense would be. Toph will never understand how Zuko searched for- what? Three years before finding her. Her and Gyatso have only been looking for her body and her friends for about half an hour and she already realized that this is going to be antagonizing. But she's patient, it'll be  _ annoying _ but she's patient.

"Hey Gyatso? Before you said that you didn't just come here to help me," Toph began as they continued walking aimlessly through the forest, "What else did you need to do?" 

There was silence following her question. Had she said something wrong? Did he already tell her? No, of course not. It was hard to figure out what was going on inside the man's head since she couldn't feel how fast his heartbeat was beating. 

" _ Avatar Kuruk should really be the one to tell you this but _ ," The monk mumbled before speaking louder, "Every century, there's a comet that comes to Earth. And this comet- it increases Firebenders strength, the Fire Nation used this to their advantage 100 years ago when they wiped out the Air Nomads… And it is coming again this year. Sozin's comet will grant the Fire Nation enough power to win the war, Toph"

The young Avatar's eyes widened.  _ What? _ Is that how the Fire Nation managed to wipe out all the Airbenders? With this…  _ magic comet?  _ That's crazy and really,  _ really  _ messed up. 

Gyatso continued, "You  _ must _ master Water and Fire before summer ends- before the comet comes. If you don't, the Fire Nation will take over the entire world with their power and balance will never again be restored" 

Toph felt her hands begin to shake and her grip on her stick tightened. She has to master all the elements (minus Air) before the end of  _ summer?  _ It's in the middle of Winter and she hasn't even learned Water yet! How will she even learn Fire? The entire Fire Nation wants her dead! Well, the entire Fire Nation except Zuko's Uncle, he seems really nice. But he won't be teaching her anytime soon as long as he's with Zuko. 

She is so fucked. Maybe Earthbending will be enough?

"How will I beat the Fire Nation?" She kept her cool 

"By defeating the Fire Lord but please, I urge you to master the elements before you confront him. I'm sorry for saying this all so suddenly, you're a child and you shouldn't have this kind of pressure at such a young age" 

_ Shouldn't have this kind of pressure at a young age?  _ That was laughable. Now she  _ knows  _ that the Avatars' clearly weren't watching every single second of her life, "Well someone's gotta do it, right? Only the Avatar is powerful enough to bring back the balance. And even if I  _ wasn't  _ the Avatar, I'm so strong that I bet I could  _ still _ do it!" She grinned, flexing her arm muscles 

The older man chuckled, "You're right. I bet you could too" 

________________

Zuko trudged back to where he saw his Uncle last. He adjusted his hold on the tiny Avatar on his back, her arms resting limply over his shoulders and her chin on the right side of his neck. He has no idea why the Avatar was in the Avatar State or why she wasn't moving (though it is a little creepy he had to admit. She's just motionless with her sightless eyes wide open, glowing a brilliant blue). But all he did know was that it made his life a lot easier now that he didn't need to actually fight her. 

The Firebender was a little surprised (but grateful) that her friends had left her behind after he chased them for a while. He supposed that when the going gets tough, the weak run away, "I guess they weren't your actual friends then, huh" He whispered raspily to the girl 

After stomping foward with wet boots (stupid Waterbending girl) for a while, he finally found Uncle Iroh sitting by a large oak tree. He watched him stand up, eyes lingering on the girl he was holding. 

"You've caught her" Was all he said while standing up

"Of course I did" Zuko nodded before shifting his hold on the Earthbender, taking her from off her back and holding her from under the arms. He kneeled down and placed her against the tree Iroh was sitting by previously 

The teenager silently sat on his knees. This was it, this was the day he got his honor back, the day he will officially be able to return home, the day he will finally be able to see his father once again. 

He pulled a sharp knife from out of the strap on his leg and grabbed a fistfull of her black hair, yanking her head upwards and revealing her open neck. 

He's going home. He could hardly believe today will be the last few days at sea. He's waited three,  _ long _ years for this.

This is it. He raises the knife to her throat and begins pressing the blade to it, slowly adding pressure. 

But right before he was about to break the skin, he felt a warm, heavy hand on his shoulder. 

"Wait Prince Zuko," Iroh said, causing Zuko to freeze, "Perhaps… Perhaps we should wait until we get to the boat? That way we won't have to worry about the Avatar's friends interrupting"

"They aren't coming back. They ran away, Uncle" He hissed, he was about to focus his attention back to the girl before Iroh spoke again-

"She's in the Avatar State, Prince Zuko. If you kill her now, you will end the Avatar cycle permanently. The next Avatar will not be born into the Fire Nation if you do" 

_ What? _ Why had he not known that? How did  _ Uncle  _ know that? 

Holy  _ shit, _ he would have really fucked up this time if he had went any quicker. 

Well  _ great.  _ Now he has to  _ wait longer.  _

Zuko growled and the knife away from her throat, temporarily sparing her life " _ Fine,"  _ He huffed and lifted her up again, holding her behind his back once again. He started walking off, "Let's get back to the ship" 

________________

"Since I have to meditate to get to the Spirit World, do I have to do that stupid looking, legs crossed, umm-ing meditation?"

"Oh no. The horse stance you were taught by the badgermoles to listen to the Earth when you were young will work just fine. It's more than the pose, it's about concentration, but not on the Earth. You must concentrate on the otherworldly- the energy swirling around you. If you practice that, you'll be able to talk to the Avatars  _ and  _ travel to the Spirit World in no time. I just know it" Gyatso encouraged 

How long had they been walking through this forest for? It feels like  _ forever _ . Toph doesn't feel that tired, even though they've been walking for most of the night. Maybe it's because she doesn't have a physical body right now?

"The…  _ energy swirling _ around me? Uh I think you're forgetting that I'm an  _ Earthbender _ , not an  _ Airbender. _ Energy isn't really our thing- it's  _ dirt… _ And  _ rocks" _

"Of course it is. And you _ are  _ an Airbender as well. You can bend all the elements- I've even seen you bend the air before" 

"That was different! That was to open a door for Katara! Plus, I wasn't able to do it again after that…" Toph wondered if that was for Airbenders- for  _ air  _ itself. No one will ever be able to bend it again besides the Avatar, that thought saddens her deeply

"Oh…" He remarked before quickly changing the subject, "Well what about you and this Katara girl, hm? I can tell you care for her a lot"

Toph felt the heat rushing to her face (why are spirits able to blush anyway?) "I care about all my friends a lot" 

"Oh I know. But Katara is different, yes?" Gyatso watched with a smile as Toph silently grew even redder, he laughed, "So I'm right? I knew it! I  _ told  _ Kyoshi!" 

"Wait  _ Kyoshi? Avatar  _ Kyoshi?" Toph turned to him, "Wait- can  _ all  _ the Avatars see me?!" 

"Of course. How do you think I could know you?" 

All those statues in the Southern Air Temple… The thousands upon thousands of Avatars… All watching, placing bets, laughing…  _ At her. _ ..

Spirits, the universe really _ does  _ hate her.

"Whu-" 

"Oh look, the lake!" 

They had finally reached the sound of water from the lake that Sokka and Katara (she hoped they were okay) had presumably took her body too and-

"No one's here" 

"What? What do you mean no one's here? They should be! Where are they?!" 

She'll never get back to her body at this rate! And her friends- what if they were captured?! Or killed? What if Zuko came and took them all? 

"Maybe they went back to where you set up camp? Wanna go check there?" 

Toph nodded silently, turning to walk back into the woods.

This  _ sucked... _

________________

Zuko plodded through the night, carrying the Avatar while leading a talkative old man. 

"-And then the tree said,  _ 'Leaf  _ me alone, I'm _ bushed!'"  _ Iroh gave a long, hearty laugh 

Were they even going in the right direction? He felt as though they've passed by that ugly tree that looks like Azula for the sixth time… 

Zuko didn't laugh at his Uncle's stupid joke. How could he be trying to make the situation lighter when his  _ entire _ honor is riding on if they could find the ship!? 

"You didn't laugh at my joke-  _ her  _ I understand but  _ you?  _ It was funny"

The boy didn't respond, instead he sped up his pace, walking ahead of his Uncle instead of by his side. 

To which Iroh only walked faster to walk beside him, "Do you want me to carry her? I don't mind, she appears very light" 

"What? So you could blow out your back and I have to carry  _ both _ of you through this whole forest!?" 

If his Uncle was trying to help, he's got an annoying way of showing it! Can't he just leave him _alone_ , to _brood_ in his own angsty thoughts in _peace?_ It was so frustrating having to hear _joke_ after _joke,_ then a proverb about water and stones- then _another_ _joke!_

He has the Avatar, why can't Uncle let him have the victory in  _ silence? _ Was that too much to ask for-!

" _ HEY PONYTAIL!"  _ Zuko heard a voice call out from behind him. Wait… He zipped around, it was the Waterbender girl, "I want a rematch!" 

The Prince tightened his grip on the Avatar behind him. Uncle won't be of any help here, he knows that for sure. He took a couple steps backwards, "With your skill level? It won't be much of a match" Or maybe it will, considering that Zuko's hands weren't free. His only shot were his legs 

The brat charged at him, letting a loud battle cry escape her throat. The water from her canteen shooting out and turning into two dull ice daggers. She swiped at him but Zuko jumped back. 

He kicked a foot out towards her, and a burst of hot light sprayed the air. When she shielded her face from the heat, he knocked her right on her butt. 

Stupid girl. Too much fight and not enough smarts (he was one to talk). 

When he turned around, he began marching away- prize still behind his back, "Why don't we fight after you master your own element?" He called back to the girl, "That way we might be able to go for a little bit- _ Oof!"  _

Something hard plowed right into the back of Zuko's head, causing him to fall on his face. The weapon landed right in front of him. It was a… 

Oh, are you serious.  _ Again?  _

"Boomerang!" The Water Tribe idiot exclaimed. Fuck, he had forgotten about him

The Prince went to stand up but a foot was firmly pressed on his back, "Uh, I don't think so" The boy said smugly, holding the Avatar over his shoulder, he pressed more weight onto him 

And  _ of course  _ Uncle wasn't helping. What was he doing?! Just standing there?! 

Zuko clenched his fist into the grass.  _ No _ , he had gotten so close. All he needed to do was  _ find the fucking ship. _ He can't give up now. 

"RAAAAH!" He screamed, a blaze of fire igniting from his hands and sindging the ground beneath him. When the boy on top of him jumped back in surprise, he threw his stupid foot off him and shoved him to the ground. 

"SOKKA!" The girl cried out, but Zuko shot an onslaught of fire in her direction. She had backtracked slightly 

" _The_ _Avatar._ Hand her over" He growled between clenched teeth, down at the boy. The boomerang boy glared up at him, his friend limp on his chest and he pulled her closer, wrapping both his arms and legs around her tiny body 

" _ No!"  _

_ "Yes!"  _

_ "No!"  _

_ "I said… YES!"  _ Zuko yelled, grabbing the blind girl's shirt and jerking her out of his grasp.

The Firebender fell backwards but quickly recovered, getting up and speeding off, tripping over his own feet a couple of times and grabbing his Uncle by the arm and speeding off with him while he held the Avatar tight.

Stupid idiots. Did they really think that they could get the Avatar back from  _ him?  _ He was a Firebender- part of the royal family, taught by only the  _ best.  _ He was a master compared to the two of them.

Those slimy Water Tribe kids, they came from nothing and they will amount to nothing! He- on the other hand- will be welcomed back home with open arms, he will even become the next Fire Lord and continue his father's work in many years to come! 

All he needs to do is get out of this forest and find that ship- 

" _ NOW WANDER!"  _

He heard one of the siblings shout from the distance. What in the world are they- 

Zuko slammed right into a hard rock, nearly galling to the ground. He held his face with one hand and look up and-  _ oh  _

That wasn't a rock. 

It was a  _ leg.  _

A  _ hairy  _ leg. 

_ Of that badgermole.  _

Fuck. 

" _ RUUUUUN!" _ He screamed, as he and his Uncle dashed off to the right 

" _ Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck" _ He cursed under his breath, running as fast as his legs could take him, jumping over roots and rocks as he goes 

"Prince Zuko, maybe we should just give her back! It seems as though her friends care for her very much! There will always be next time-" 

"THERE MIGHT NOT  _ BE  _ A NEXT TIME!" The teenager yelled over his Uncle, not even bothering to look back as he ran with the girl behind his back (he wasn't  _ ever  _ letting her go), "JUST KEEP RUNNING!" 

They ran for what felt like forever, when in reality it was probably a little over 30 minutes (but that was still half an hour of nonstop running for a middle aged man and a young boy). 

When they finally stopped, they held their breath for at least ten seconds- making sure they had truly lost them. 

When they didn't hear anything, they let out a breath of relief and began huffing and panting for dear life. 

"We… should stop… for a while, my nephew" Iroh wheezed out, plopping down in the middle of the ground, not leaning against anything except his own hands

"There's no…  _ time!"  _ Zuko growled, panting as well. Dammit, his legs felt like jelly- running at max speed  _ while _ carrying deadweight is  _ hard.  _ But they had to continue moving, having probably found themselves even  _ more  _ lost in the wide expanse of the trees. They would probably have to wait till morning to find a way back… 

He turned around and squinted his eyes. Was that…  _ lights?  _ In the distance, not that far in the trees. He gasped. 

_ A village!  _ Maybe they could help them find a way back! 

Zuko put Toph down, her back up against a tree and looked over to his sitting Uncle, the man's back facing them, "I'm going into that village to see if anyone knows which way the sea is," He said, " _ Watch her, _ Uncle. Make sure nothing happens"

Iroh did not turn around, he simply waved a hand, "Of course, of course, Prince Zuko"

The old man listened quietly as he heard the sound of his Nephew's footsteps decrease and lower in volume the further he went. The last sound that came from him was the rustling of bushes and he heard him curse softly as he pushed them aside. 

Iroh sighed, pressed his hands against his spine, pushing hardly, " _ Ooooo, my back.  _ I should have never ran" He whined in pain

He continued to complain, squeezing his eyes shut and clenching his teeth. He should have allowed that badgermole to eat him, at least then he wouldn't have to deal with old man joint problems. 

The man kept whining for around five minutes before he heard the faint rustling of bushes. Zuko was always much more louder than that… 

_ "Look, there she is!"  _ He heard a young girl's voice squeal with happiness 

_ "Shh, Katara! He'll hear us!"  _ The boy whisper-shouted 

These were some loud kids.

Iroh opened one eye and quickly peeked over his shoulder. The Water Tribe siblings were hiding in the dark bushes (he was wondering when they were going to show up again). 

He turned his head back when he saw them jump out of the bush and crouch towards their friend. " _ Ooooow, ow ow… My back! My old man back!"  _ He began to complain louder, shouting over the susurration and whispering

_ Come on… hurry up.  _ He silently begged 

"Uncle!" He heard his Nephew call out, oh no, "When I got to the village, everything was closed. We'll have to ask around tomorrow and-"

Everyone froze, staring back at the Firebender with bug eyes. Sokka held Toph's legs while Katara had her arms. And Iroh was still holding his back, his head cracked around- looking at Zuko.

...

… 

… 

"RAAAAAHGG!" Zuko plunged forward, his fists already on fire 

He clouted at the Water Tribe boy, who reeled back in time, having to drop the girl's legs. He backtracked and pulled out his club, preparing for an attack. 

And an attack he got- Zuko drove a fiery leg down in front of him, who narrowly was able to deflect it with the base of his weapon, "Why don't you just," The blue eyed boy huffed, thrusting Zuko back, causing him to lose balance and fall on his back, " _ LEAVE US ALONE!?"  _

" _ NEVER!"  _ Zuko snarled, shooting fire at the other

While the teenagers continued to spar, Iroh noticed the Waterbender girl lifted the Avatar up bridal style. He watched as she held her close, beginning to back away and back to the trees. He realized that the two kids probably agreed that whoever Zuko charged at first will be the distraction while the other got the Avatar out of here. Smart plan, he silently cheered, hoping that they get the girl and each other out of here safe and sound (and not burned to a crisp).

But then the Avatar began blinking away the glow from her eyes while in the Waterbender's arms.

While the old man couldn't hear the words the girls exchanged, he could tell the taller girl was  _ very  _ relieved that she was alright- if the great, back breaking hug was any indication of that. 

Then the girl put the Earthbender down. Iroh watched as she began scowling. Oh no. 

" _ HEY!"  _ She called out, which caused Zuko and the other boy to freeze. She pointed over to the Firebender, "QUIT HURTING MY FRIENDS- OR YOU'RE IN FOR A WORLD OF HURT, COALS FOR BRAINS!" 

" _ No,"  _ Zuko frowned his brow, charging at the Avatar, " _ NOOOOOO!"  _

Zuko charged for the girl, throwing a punch at the girl that she grabbed with her left hand. He froze and she smirked. 

Then his hand lit aflame, burning her. She yelped and yanked her hand away, blowing on her burnt hand. Zuko went to hook her in the face but the girl shot up a wall of rock- to which his hand collided with the solid Earth, "ARUGH!" He cried in pain 

The Firebender kicked his leg at her but she blocked it with the hard of her forearm. He revered back and used the momentum from the reel to fling his fist back at her. 

She ducked under it, sweeping underneath him and coming out from behind Zuko, placing the flat of her foot on his back and pushing him to the ground. The Avatar then stomped, causing Earthen shackles to spring out the ground and trap the boy.

He struggled against them in efforts to break free but to no avail, "ARUAAAAAAAA!" His hands skewed fire as he screamed 

The little girl then turned to Iroh, he jumped- putting his hands up in the universal sign of surrender. She grinned at him, "Relax, you're smart- you stayed outta it. That's more I can say for your Nephew," She pointed a thumb in the cursing Zuko's direction, "Sorry about that by the way, you know how it is" 

The spirit of the world began walking backwards, over to her friends, "We're gonna go now! I'll let him go when we're a good distance away, so hang tight. Bye, wise-man!" 

Iroh watched as the child grabbed her friends hands and dashed up, the three of them laughing in such  _ joy _ . 

" _ RAAAAAAAAAAAAH NOOOOO!"  _

Iroh chuckled nervously. Oh boy, this was gonna be a long night.

________________

"Wait, so you  _ weren't _ in the Avatar State?" Sokka asked 

"Nope! I was in the Spirit World!" 

"And you were with us,  _ the entire time?"  _ Katara reinforced the words 

"Well, I  _ was,"  _ Toph groaned, "But you can't bend in the Spirit World so I couldn't see with my seismic sense. But then Avatar Gyatso came!" 

The three sat in an underground cave, Wander curled up around them as they spoke all huddled together. They agreed that staying above ground for the night wouldn't be the  _ best _ idea if Zuko was still around. 

"And you're  _ sure  _ you're not just making this up? I mean- this isn't some elaborate prank or something, right?" Sokka flicked the Avatar's forehead 

" _ No, _ I'm not making this up! And I already told you; he warned me about a comet-  _ Sozin's comet-  _ that's gonna come at the end of Summer," Toph felt Wander's face nudge at the back of her arm, she pet his head as she continued, "It increases Firebenders firepower and that's what they're gonna use to take control over the rest of the world. I gotta master Fire and Water before it comes or the whole world'll be thrown off balance forever..." 

Dammit why did everything need to have a time limit? What other purpose did it serve other than build unnecessary suspense? How will she even be able to master Fire if every Firebender is out for her blood? This was all really stressful if you couldn't tell.

"Don't worry. You won't be alone, we're gonna beat the Fire Nation!" Katara said.  _ Truth. _

"Yeah Toph! We just spent the whole night chasing that Zuko guy just to get you back, we can't just throw you away now. I put way too much energy into this friendship already!" Sokka laughed

She felt Katara place a hand on her shoulder and snuggle closer to her, "I know you could master them, because you're an  _ amazing _ Avatar, Toph"

Toph's cheeks began to heat up and she turned her head away, but to be honest that was worse because that means Sokka saw her face.

"Aw, Toph! Are you _ bluuuushing?"  _

"What?!  _ NO!" _

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was one of my favorite chapters in all of book 1 (well, besides another chapter that you'll read soon ;)) I just think Zuko and Iroh and Sokka and Katara basically playing hot potato with Toph's body was a HILARIOUS concept, all the while Toph is just having a nice stroll with Gyatso
> 
> I hoped you enjoyed reading as much as I did writing this chapter!!!! Thank you for reading and make sure to leave comments, I love to hear your thoughts!!!


	9. The Freedom Fighters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Still trying to get to the Northern Water Tribe, Toph, Sokka, and Katara run into some interesting people on their journey through the woods. People who despise the Fire Nation but that's alright because we all hate them
> 
> Right?

The trio plus Wander are currently traveling through the Earth Kingdom, already halfway across the territory. They should reach sea in two to three and a half weeks if they followed Sokka's schedule to a T.

It was late afternoon, the sun already nearly completely down over the horizon and the sky was almost dark. They were in a patchy forest, the grass was dead and dry and the trees that covered the area had leaves of orange and red. 

Toph stood in her horse stance, eyes shut while trying to focus on the  _ energy swirling around her _ in order to get to the Spirit World. It's been hard- trying to get there again. Since the Solstice, she's only been able to re-enter it twice so far (but she's determined to get better). 

_ Think of the energy. Think of the energy, floating around. It's all around us, circling and invading our spaces.  _

Don't think about how Zuko had almost killed her while she was in the Spirit World. How if it wasn't for the fact that he believed she was in the Avatar State, she would be dead. How she was completely vulnerable and had no idea. 

How even after all that- she still felt bad for him. How Toph understood that he had probably gone through something deeply traumatic, that combined with all the Fire Nation propaganda that has most likely been shoved down his throat since he was a mere child- it was no wonder he acted like a crazy person. It doesn't mean she didn't hate him though- she  _ did  _ and she  _ knows _ she has every right to. But, it was easier to keep her cool when she understood where Zuko was coming from. 

Logically, Toph knew that not all people of the Fire Nation acted like that- Zuko's Uncle was a great example. He freed her from her cage in Kyoshi Island and didn't help Zuko attack her during the Solstice. He wants to help Zuko change for the better. And Toph wants to believe that he will be successful. 

"And I don't see why they  _ wouldn't  _ let me try their bean curd puffs! They were  _ free samples"  _

"Because you  _ already  _ had like eight by that point, Sokka" 

"Still!" 

The Earthbender was able to ignore the noise of her traveling companions- listening to the Earth never required her ears, just her feet. It wasn't a problem, as long as neither of them started- 

_ STOMP STOMP STOMP _

_ Stomping around _ … or in this case, Sokka pacing back and forth, "I think that if  _ I  _ were the sales merchant and I saw a starving child in front of me, I'd let him have the whole _ tray!  _ Especially if said child was as  _ handsome _ as me" 

" _ You _ think  _ you're  _ handsome?" Katara snorted

_ STOMP  _

"Yes I do actually! And I have plenty of people who would agree with me!" 

"Gran Gran is family, she doesn't count" 

"AURGH!" 

_ STOMP STOMP STOMP  _

The Avatar's eyebrows twitched, keeping her eyes squeezed shut. 

" _ TOPH! _ You think I'm handsome right?! Please tell my  _ idiotic sister  _ that I am!" 

"You wanna know what I think?" She said through clenched teeth, "I think that you need to  _ STOP STOMPING AROUND!"  _ She shouted, "Some people are  _ trying _ to focus and they can't with all that  _ banging!"  _

Didn't they see she was  _ trying  _ to focus?! 

… 

…

"So that's a no?" Sokka asked sadly 

"No Sokka, you're beautiful," She went back to her stance, "Katara, tell Sokka he's beautiful" 

The Waterbender groaned, "Sokka, you're beautiful" 

"Thank you very much, my dear sister!" 

"Good, now go do something. I'm trying to focus on  _ energy  _ or something"

"Aw but it's getting late. I don't wanna go and-" 

Toph interrupted the Waterbender by sliding a foot against the grass, a short pillar of rock launched up and began shoving the siblings away, "Great, don't go too far and stay out of trouble!" 

Sokka whined, "Awwwww  _ fine!" _

  
  
  
  


Sokka and Katara were pushed past the trees and further into the forest. When the rock had submerged back into the Earth, they stopped. Sokka glanced around, "We might as well hunt for something" 

The siblings began wondering about, "Toph's really taking her Spirit World training seriously" 

"She's the Avatar, Katara. She has to," Sokka pulled out his boomerang from his back, "It's kinda her job, especially if she wants to stop the Fire Nation before the end of Summer" 

"I guess you're right. Well we're gonna be at the Northern Water Tribe soon, then we'll be able to have formal training and then Toph'll be one step closer in the right direction!" 

Sokka snorted, "What? Are your little  _ Waterbending dates _ not enough?" Spirits, he was hilarious 

" _ SOKKA!"  _ Katara's face flushed, puffing her cheeks out, " _ Shut up!" _

"You didn't even deny it! Aw, my little sister has her first crush. It's adorable really- and on the  _ Avatar  _ no less. Annoying and  _ way _ too short but hey, if you like her you like her-"

Katara covered her ears and marched past her brother. She wasn't listening, nope, no, no way. This was stupid and not to mention  _ ridiculous!  _ Sokka was a stupid idiot, how could he know she had a crush on Toph? Wait, no- Katara  _ doesn't  _ have a crush on Toph. Her brother is just trying to make her flustered! Spirits, he was  _ annoying!  _

She heard him howling with laughter, "Aw wait, Katara! Haha! Come back!" Sokka ran after her, placing a hand on her shoulder. She huffed and turned around to face him, "Don't go too far… Your  _ girlfriend _ doesn't want you getting into trouble!"

"Augh! You're so stupid!" 

They continued their dumb conversation for about ten more minutes, resuming their stroll. They went from Katara's (obviously not real) crush on Toph, then to Sokka's weird map hoarding addiction (every single town they visit, he always makes sure to get a map of the area), and even to debating if Wander could learn to speak (Toph says that badgermoles are smart animals, so if he's able to understand them- why couldn't he speak? Sokka doesn't think the same though. He says it's impossible).

"If Wander could speak, wouldn't you think he would've done it already?" Sokka said, hacking away at some lower leaves 

"I'm saying that he could probably  _ learn.  _ You don't think?" 

"No! Because he's an animal and animals can't-  _ MFHM!"  _

Tiny hands had suddenly covered their mouths, muffling both of them. Before either of them could remove the hands, Sokka and Katara were yanked backwards and into the bushes. 

Katara turned around; it was Toph. When the Earthbender felt their eyes on her, she silently shook her head, pressing a finger up to her own mouth. 

Sokka gave Toph a funny look (couldn't he just be quiet without asking any questions?). He squinted, looking ahead past the leaves. 

There were a couple of men dressed in Fire Nation armor setting up the camp;  _ soldiers. _

Getting the idea, they both shut up rather quickly.

Katara felt Toph lace her fingers with hers, pulling her back (And she assumed Sokka's as well because he moved back with her). 

" _ Why don't we fight them?"  _ She whispered 

" _ Are you crazy?"  _ Toph whispered back, from behind her,  _ "They could call their officials or whatever and find out where we are. Plus, they aren't doing anything wrong- they're just being. There's no reason to fight"  _

Being only a little frustrated with that answer, (They were  _ Fire Nation,  _ of course there's a reason to fight them. That's enough of a reason) Katara kept quiet. 

_ "CAW!"  _

A bird called then the next thing any of them knew, a group of people had jumped down from the trees, taking the men by surprise and ambushing them. 

Katara counted about five of the fighters, each of them taking on about three Fire Nation soldiers at a time. The boy with shaggy brown hair sliced through the air with twin swords, both hooked at the end (which she thought looked really funny and didn't understand the point of the curve. But, hey she's not the weapons expert). 

Two more boys, one very large and the other very small fought together. The big one lifted about four of the men over his head and tossed them to the side, the little one ran over and bonked them unconscious with a rock. 

Then the last two, a boy and a girl. The boy had a bow and shot arrows with hard, dull tips. He successfully hit eight men in the heads, knocking them out. The girl held two daggers, but rarely used them. Instead, she resorted to kicking and punching, adding to the number of unconscious soldiers. 

In three minutes, all men were knocked out in the ground and the group began rummaging through their things.

" _ Holy shit… _ " Sokka whispered 

"That was amazing!" Katara ran out, which caused all the kids to jump 

Wait- kids? Those were children!? Children their age!? The oldest looked to be the boy with the wheat in his mouth seemed to be around Sokka's age. They were all so young. But they were able to take down an entire pack of Fire Nation men!

The teenager stepped forward, immediately welcoming the praise, the rest all seemed to relax as he did, "Thanks, we've been tracking these guys for days," He rested a hand on his hip as the trio came from out of the bushes, "Who're you guys?" 

"I'm Sokka," Sokka placed a hand in his chest then points a thumb to the Waterbender, "This is my idiot sister Katara, who  _ should've _ kept her big mouth shut," He spat before casually added, "And our friend Toph" 

Katara hit him on the shoulder before walking up to the five kids, "And who are you guys? You were really awesome fighting those Fire Nation men!" She was  _ more _ than impressed with all their skills, and in overall awe in their strength

"I'm Jet. That's Smellerbee-" Jet pointed to the girl with long bangs and dark circles around her eyes, "Longshot-" The tall boy with the bow and arrow, "And the Duke and Pipsqueak" The small one side a helmet far too big for his head and the other was very large and built like a war tank, "We call ourselves the Freedom Fighters"

"Freedom Fighters?" Toph raised an eyebrow, "What do you do?"

"Our main goal is to take down any Earth Kingdom village that's become a colony of the Fire Nation" 

"Wow, that's kinda cool" Sokka remarked 

"Yeah, we make sure that Fire Nation doesn't try to mess with the Earth Kingdom" Jet banged a fist on his chest

"HEY JET!" Pipsqueak called out to the leader, further off with The Duke, "Are we bringing these barrels of blasting jelly?" 

Jet turned around, "Yeah, we'll bring them back to the hideout!"

The Earthbender jumped in curiosity, "Hideout?" Now she looked more interested- she probably just wants a reason to go explore 

The sword welder smiled down at her, "Yep,  _ hideout.  _ You guys wanna check it out?"

" _Actuaaaallly,"_ Sokka began, "We're on a tight schedule so maybe some other- and they're already following him"

  
  
  
  


They followed Jet and his group, walking behind him through the woods for a while before stopping. 

Where were they?

Sokka scanned his surroundings. This looked to be as filled with trees as the last spot they were just in! Where was this  _ hideout? _

"Where's the hideout?" Katara took the words out of his mouth, glancing around 

Smellerbee, Longshot, Pipsqueak and The Duke began laughing, running past them and over to a couple lines of rope that was dangling down from one of the large trees. Each of them grabbed one (minus The Duke, who Pipsqueak held in one arm while the other was wrapped around the rope) and were flung off into the air, past the leaves. Sokka's mouth fell open. 

What the fuck. 

"Uh… Where'd the rest go?" Toph asked 

"The hideout's in the tree," Jet explained, taking a few steps towards the trunk, "The ropes are used to get us up and down"

"Cool! But," Toph scooped Katara into her arms, carrying her bridal style, "Who needs ropes!" She laughed

"Toph, what're you-  _ WAAAAAHAHA!"  _ Toph stomped on the ground and a chunk of Earth had sprung out from the grass under her, launching both of them up into the tree. Katara's screams and Toph's laughter began growing quieter and quieter the further they flew up.

Sokka watched as they went up the tree, squinting up because of the bright, orange sunlight.  _ Gross…  _

"What? They like each other or something?" Jet asked, walking closer to the Water Tribe warrior 

"Yeah, and it's nasty" He huffed 

Then Sokka felt an arm wrapping around his waist. Sokka yelped as Jet pulled him closer, " _ Hey _ ! What're you-!  _ AAAAAAAAAHHHH!" _

Jet tugged on one of the ropes, yanking them up into the tree at lightning fast speeds. 

Upon stepping foot into the little hideout- well, large,  _ huge hideout _ . Holy crap it was big. The entire tree house was large and intricate, stretching over many trees and all of them connecting to each other by long rope bridges and ladders. It looked as though it was constantly being expanded upon. 

"Wow Jet! This place is huge!" Katara gasped as Jet and Sokka jumped onto the wooden planks

Sokka held his head, slightly light headed, "Don't…  _ ever  _ do that again" 

Jet laughed and began walking forward, "Sure thing, Sokka" 

"How long does all this stretch for?" Toph asked, her arms wrapped around Katara's right arm. Sokka remembered that the Earthbender couldn't sense on all this wood; she was completely blind 

"For a couple yards. And this took a long time," The teeneger smiled, allowing the three to follow him, "Way longer than I've been part of the Freedom Fighters" 

"How'd you join the Freedom Fighters anyway? This like a secret club or something?" Sokka asked, walking beside next to Jet as they crossed over a bridge to get to the next sector of the hideout

Jet didn't speak for a long while, all that was heard were the faint conversations of children and creaking of the floorboards underneath them. 

"No… All these kids- it isn't a club, none of them have a home to go home to. We've all suffered loss because of the Fire Nation, " He said, gaze fixed downward, "Even me. They burned down my entire village when I was a kid.." 

"Oh Jet, I'm so sorry to hear that..." Katara places a hand on his shoulder from behind him, "Me and Sokka lost our mother in a Fire Nation raid eight years ago" Sokka turned his head away

"A Fire Nation…" Toph paused to find the right word to describe Zuko.  _ Monster was a fitting word _ , Sokka thought (No one hurts his little buddy), " _ Soldier  _ killed my parents- not that long ago too"

Jet smiled at them and half-heatedly said, "Glad to hear you guys hate the Fire Nation as much as I do" 

They all laughed (except Toph). 

________________

Dinner went by fast, the Freedom Fighters were really nice and they were gracious enough to allow them food and shelter- even if they weren't going to be staying for that long. 

It was late and the others were fast asleep, Toph was doing some mini exploring on her own, getting acquainted with the area before they plan on leaving the next morning. She was walking down one of the sections of this impossibly huge tree house, running her fingers across the wooden fencing quietly. 

_ Creak _

_ Footsteps.  _

The Earthbender jerked herself around, raising her fists and grounding her stance, quickly going into battle mode.

" _ Woah!  _ Calm down there, Tiny. 'Just me" It was Jet, she relaxed and lowered her arms 

"Oh, sorry" Toph said, turning around and beginning to walk again 

She heard the footsteps catching up with her and slowing down when he was by her side, "What're you doing up so late?" 

Toph shrugged her shoulders, "I like getting a feel of where I am if I can't see" 

"Oh yeah. You know," He nudged her shoulder, "Katara told me about how you see- _ your seismic sense _ . It's incredible, you're an amazing Earthbender" 

Toph would have said something. That she knew she was great- that no one needed to tell her that. But she stayed silent, it sounded like the boy was going to say more. 

"The others haven't caught on but…"

_ "You're the Avatar, aren't you,"  _ He said it as more of a statement rather than a question, "I've seen your face hanging around all over villages"

Toph continued her silence, unsure of how he was feeling right now. She couldn't feel his heart and his voice sounded so…  _ blank _ , devoid of any real emotion. She hated being unable to feel someone's pulse. It was annoying- having to guess. 

More so right now, Toph was powerful but one wrong move and Jet could have her flying off the edge of this platform. Even though she was filled with spite and endless energy, Toph knew which battles to pick. She felt that she could trust Jet (perhaps that was the naive child in her- she wanted to feel safe), but considering her track record as Avatar- people tend not to like her too much after that fact is revealed. 

So she stayed quiet, even after Jet began talking again, "Well that's cool. With skills like yours, you'll defeat the Fire Nation in no time" He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and she was able to feel his vibrations.

He wasn't enraged or frustrated. He was  _ calm _ , like he didn't care. He didn't care that she was the Cursed Avatar (which was a first). She chuckled, "Would you believe that you're the first person who found out I was the Avatar and  _ didn't  _ try to kill me?" 

He snorted before pausing, realizing the 12 year old wasn't joking, "Wait really?"

Toph shook her head, "The whole world thinks I'm cursed or something. They all blame me for what the other Avatars did," She blinked, " _ Well _ , except Sokka and Katara"

The siblings didn't trust her at first either. But they warmed up to her quickly (Katara was faster but Sokka was Sokka, name one person he actually trusts). But with Gaoling, Zuko, Kyoshi Island, the village that celebrated the Dōngzhì Festival- it was a never ending list that she had a feeling was only going to grow longer. 

"And me! Those were your past lives, if I'm gonna hate anyone, it's gonna be  _ them _ ," He placed a hand on her shoulder, "You had  _ no _ control over what they did, it'd be unfair to blame you"

That… actually felt really nice to hear. Nice to hear that  _ someone  _ didn't wholeheartedly believe that she was a failure. But holy shit- that felt really good. She grinned. 

________________

The next day, the trio were spending time with the Freedom Fighters. Sokka was learning some dagger techniques from Smellerbee and Katara was struggling to conceal her laughter as Toph was standing square in the middle of the open, wooden platform, straining her ears, listening for…  _ something. _

Jet walked over, he lent down and whispered to Katara, " _ Hey Watergirl, what's she doing?" _

The Waterbender giggled, not taking her eyes off of the Earthbender, "Toph's trying to find The Duke. It's pretty funny" 

"It's not funny, it's dangerous that's what that is!" Sokka called to them, "Toph's probably gonna walk right off this damn tree!" 

Toph grinned and shook her head, "No way! There isn't always gonna be Earth around, I need to work on my hearing!" She lifted her head, "Right, Duke?" 

"Right-!" He poked up from behind a box, and froze, realizing what trap he had just fallen for 

" _ AH-HA!" _ Toph exclaimed in the boy's direction. She laughed and charged to The Duke before she felt herself become weightless and her feet were no longer on the ground. 

She was hoisted up into the air by the back of her shirt, "Sorry to cut your game short but you should with me, I wanna show you something" Jet said 

Toph nodded and began walking with the boy, holding his hand and allowing him to lead her across one of the bridges. 

What could Jet possibly want? His pulse wasn't that fast- so he couldn't be angry. Toph wondered if it had anything to do with last night. Maybe he found another wanted poster? Or maybe him and the Freedom Fighters caught Zuko somehow?

Oh Spirits, she hoped it wasn't that. She was having such a nice few days of practicing Waterbending and trying to master Spirit World travel. It was so peaceful and she even made some really nice friends. (Must he always spoil her good moods with murderous rampages?)

They stop, "Okay, we're here"

"I hope you're not trying to imprison me," She joked, "I've had enough of it from the Earth Kingdom already"

Toph heard a door creak open and she and Jet stepped inside, letting go of each other's hands.

"Look! Isn't it amazing?" 

…. 

"Just marvelous, Robin Hood" She blankly remarked 

"Oh right," Jet whispered before speaking, "This room's filled with nearly every single thing we've ever stolen from the Fire Nation through the years. Well- all the things we've stolen that we  _ haven't used yet _ . Clothes, jewelry, important letters, money, daggers;  _ everything"  _ He exclaimed, clearly prideful and excited by his feats 

"Why'd you show me this?"

"What do you mean? This is amazing, we've been trying to settle the score with the Fire Nation!" He spoke, "I… I thought you'd be happy about this"

Not if it's innocent people they stole this stuff from- not if it's innocent people who have nothing to do with the war besides being born on the winning side. The people they stole from, they had as much control being part of the Fire Nation as she did with being the Avatar. 

This didn't feel right. Maybe some of them deserved it, like the people with the important letters or the daggers. But not all of them were like that, some of them were like Zuko's Uncle. And those people didn't deserve to get robbed by a bunch of stupid kids.

"Well I'm not" 

"Why? You should be happy that we did this to them, after all they've done to us. After all they've done to  _ you-"  _

"That's different. What happened wasn't right but-" 

"Yeah, you're right. It  _ wasn't _ right. And there isn't any  _ buts _ about it- they deserve to pay for what they did to us!" 

"Not all of them are like that. They don't deserve to suffer because of only a few-" 

_ STOMP _

She heard him step closer. His voice demanding, "Who's side are you on? Are you _really_ _sympathizing_ with them? With the people who _started_ the war that _you're_ getting blamed for?"

She didn't speak. 

He scoffs, "I bet you lied yesterday. I bet they didn't even kill your-"

Toph fisted the collar of his shirt, yanking him towards her, she snarled, " _ Don't."  _

She shoved him away from her and stormed out, slamming the door behind herself.

  
  
  
  


Dinner was the same as last night, loud and cheerful. Toph sat in between Sokka and Katara, on the opposite side of the small table sat Jet. 

Toph listened to the three speak about Katara's embarrassing Waterbending mishaps. How she once accidentally froze the water Sokka was taking a bath in when she was six. Or how she fell into freezing water because she melted the ice below her. It was funny, hearing all the stupid things a young Katara did and comparing them to the stupid things the present Katara does now (not much has changed it seemed). 

She hasn't told either of them what happened between her and Jet. What would she even say?  _ 'Hey guys! Just to let you know that Jet is obviously deeply traumatized about what the Fire Nation did to his family when he was young- and for good reason! Which caused him to believe that all Fire Nation people- guilty or not- should be punished collectively as a Nation instead of just apprehending and stopping the select few behind the atrocities committed against people! Oh, and they also hoard all the loot they steal from them in a room like a dragon!'  _ Yeah, like that would work.

It was better to just stay quiet. And Jet wasn't saying anything about it, so why should she?

Jet placed down his cup onto the table, "Hey that reminds me- Sokka, Katara, I need your help on something" 

"What is it Jet?" Katara asked 

"There's a river a little far off into the forest and that's where we get all our drinking water from; but the stream's been getting thinner and thinner lately and we're worried that it'll run dry soon" 

Sokka sucked his teeth, "That's terrible"

"Yeah," His sister agreed, "But what could we do for you?"

Jet began explaining, "There's vents underneath the ground by the river that shoot up water when uncovered. The built up pressure beneath the geysers will keep the flow of water going, and fill into the river that leads to the reservoir" 

"Wow, that's amazing!" Katara beamed and Toph felt her shift beside her, "You can count on us, Jet" 

" _ Wait _ .." Sokka cut in, "If you need to get the water out of the vents in the ground…" He then whispered, " _ Shouldn't you have two Waterbenders? You should just take Toph and Katara.."  _ He said meekly, was he really doubting his skill? 

Toph felt six eyes on her, just now noticing she's been eerily quiet throughout the entire conversation.

Jet speaks, "Sokka, you're a strong warrior- that's obvious, and I believe in your ability. All you have to do is dig," He adds, "Plus, me and Toph have an important mission together tomorrow.  _ Right, Toph?" _

Jet never told her about any mission. 

"Yeah," She nodded, " _ Right"  _

________________

The next day, Jet, Sokka, Katara, and Toph were walking down a path of dirt, following a thin stream of river to their left. 

Toph wondered what Jet could possibly cause to lie to Sokka and Katara about some mission? Maybe he did actually tell her about a mission and she forgot? Or was this an excuse to try and continue their conversation from yesterday? (If it was, she would be more than prepared this time. She was surrounded by earth and water).

The Avatar knew she should have declined his proposal last night, to call him out on his lie in front of the siblings. Hell, she could have used this time to practice Waterbending or traveling to the Spirit World. But curiosity ate her up; Toph had to know what Jet was going to say.

"Ugggh… We've been walking  _ forever,"  _ Sokka whined, "When do we know when we reach the-  _ GAAAH!"  _

A steam geyser on the ground in front of him shoots out a gust of air right up at him, causing his hair to stand on edge. The other three laugh while Sokka lets out an annoyed grumble, struggling to return his hair to its normal style. 

Jet giggled, "Looks like we're here," He stopped and faced the rest, "Katara, you start Waterbending the water out of the vents while Sokka, you'll start digging up vents" 

"How'll we know when to move onto the next hole?" Katara asked 

"The water will shoot out from it and onto the river. Get a good about of vents pouring into the river," Jet places a hand on Toph's shoulder, and began to walk away with her, "And while you two do that, me and Toph will go do what we gotta do" 

Toph turned her head to face them while walking away, "I'll catch up with you guys later" 

"Alright, see you later, Toph!"

"You too Jet!"

________________

They walked a fair distance away from both the hideout and the river, leaving the two of them completely alone. She followed Jet as they passed trees and up a hill before they finally stopped their travel. 

She felt him peering over the edge of the cliff, there was a village below and the river that Sokka and Katara were by led right through it. Toph stood a couple of paces away, facing him and patiently waiting for him to speak.

"Listen, I just wanna apologize for what I said yesterday. I might've went too far" 

So he did wanna talk about yesterday. 

"Yeah, you did go too far. You've  _ been  _ going too far, the people you're stealing from- the people you're hurting, a lot of them are innocent," Toph clenched her fists, "It doesn't matter if they're Fire Nation, they're still people just like you and me" 

The boy didn't say anything for a long while but Toph can wait- she could wait for centuries and thensome if it means getting through to this boy. He's like her, if she had allowed the anger and injustice consume her. In fact, Toph admits that she would _ have probably  _ been like this if it wasn't for the Avatar State forcing her to constantly keep her emotions in check in fear of destroying everything. 

What happened to her, to Jet, to Sokka, Katara and every single person brought down by war wasn't right. It wasn't fair for the people to endure, for the Fire Nation to so  _ strongly  _ believe that they're on top. 

But it wasn't right to harm innocent people either. Stealing from people who  _ do _ deserve it, that's okay in her book- but from people who don't? No, it's  _ wrong _ . 

Toph was sure that, as much as Sokka and Katara hate the Fire Nation, (They probably do as much as Jet does, to be honest) they would agree that innocent people don't deserve to get robbed. 

Jet was hurting, suffering from a wound that never healed. And, in a way, reminded her of the little she knew of Zuko. He was angry, Jet was angry. They were both scared of being hurt again. She understands that feeling but how either of them choose to protect themselves wasn't good. 

"Your parents are dead. They're never coming back," He spat words so harshly true it nearly made her flich (But she was a rock, she won't budge. She's strong for them), "Doesn't that make you  _ angry?  _ Don't you wanna just… I dunno, do _ something?"  _

"I could risk hurting the people I love if I did-" 

"Did you not love  _ them!?" _

" _ Yes!  _ Of course I did!" She shouted, "Jet-" 

"Then why won't you do anything?! If you really _ cared,  _ you'd use your Avatar powers to wipe out all of the Fire Nation!  _ For good." _

"Killing the entire Fire Nation wouldn't solve anything, it'd only cause so much more pain," She explained, eyes burning, "Why would I ever want to make someone else feel as bad as I did when I lost my family?"

"Because  _ I  _ suffered because of  _ them! They _ should have to feel all the pain I felt when I lost everything!" He screamed 

… 

She heard him sniffle, "Aren't you in pain? Aren't you hurting,  _ constantly _ every single day? Don't… Don't you  _ miss _ them?"

Toph nodded, "I do. Everyday. But I can't let my grief control me, I can't hurt all the people of the Fire Nation just because one person took away the people I loved…"

…. 

… 

She heard him take his hooked blades out from behind his back and dryly, he growled lowly, " _ Then I guess that's where we disagree…" _

________________

The Water Tribe siblings have been opening geyser after geyser all day and the sun had just begun to set just below the horizon. 

Katara wondered where Jet and Toph were right now, what were they doing? Probably something cool, like saving a town from the shadows or something. They were both amazing fighters and wouldn't be surprised if they were working together right this second to defeat a common enemy. 

Soon, her and Sokka had opened all the vents in the wide area they were in, all gushing into the now steady stream, "I think that's enough, the river looks more than full now" Sokka said 

"Yeah," Katara looked at the river, admiring their day's long work with a smile on her face, "I bet I could get back to the hideout faster than you" 

"Oh please. My legs are  _ much  _ longer than yours are, you'd be stupid to-  _ BYE!"  _ Sokka cut himself off mid sentence, shoving past Katara and doing a mad dash down the dirt path

" _ HEY! I WASN'T READY, SOKKA!"  _ She shouted, chasing after him 

"Hahaha!" She heard her brother howl from in front of her, which only fueled her fire and caused her to run even faster 

In a minute, Katara was able to pass her brother, giving him a very interesting hand gesture while bolting past. 

She was gonna win and beat her stupid brother. Maybe that'll show him not to make fun of her crushes (and again,  _ not  _ that she had a crush on Toph or anything).

Several minutes passed and the Waterbender had created a considerable gap between her and her brother before coming to an abrupt halt. 

She heard voices. 

Katara cautiously moved towards a bush and peered through the opposite side. She could see the giant reservoir wall and four Freedom Fighters standing by it. It was Longshot, Smellerbee, Pipsqueak and The Duke.

What were they doing there?

"Hey loser, what? Get tired alread-  _ MMHF!"  _ Katara jumped when she heard her brother's voice call from behind her. In an instant, she covered his mouth and dragged him down behind the bush with her, she pointed over to the group. 

"Why're we bringing these barrels of blasting jelly here again?" Pipsqueak asked, dropping down the last of the barrels that were lined up around the wall

"Because Jet said to put them here," Smellerbee explained, "When he gives the signal, we'll blow up the barrels and the reservoir will explode. And since Sokka and Katara are filling the river back up, it'll flood the whole Fire Nation colony that the stream leads to, wiping out all the Fire Nation soldiers there"

"Oh, right" 

Sokka and Katara gasp. This was  _ Jet's _ plan? Flood a nearby village, drowning the lives of hundreds of innocent people just because there were Fire Nation's soldiers stationed there? Why would he do that? Katara hates the Fire Nation after what happened to their mother but to just kill random civilians? That's crazy! 

She stood up, " _ Katara! What're you doing?!"  _ Sokka whisper-shouted 

" _ HEY ASSHOLES!"  _ The 14 year old called out, catching the kids attention, " _ YOU BETTER LEAVE THAT RESERVOIR ALONE, BEFORE I MAKE YOU!"  _

Katara sprinted over to the group, making sure to grab Sokka's hand as she went and they both stood tall in front of them.

"You can't just flood the village because it's Fire Nation, there're good people who live there!" Sokka shouted, grabbing his club from behind his back 

"Yeah! And we don't care if Jet told you to do it! This is insane!" Katara added 

"What would  _ you  _ know anyway?" Smellerbee scoffed before pointing a finger at the two, " _ GET THEM!"  _

The children charged at the siblings, weapons in hand. Pipsqueak stormed at Katara, emptying a barrel of jelly and lifting it over his head, prepared to bash it over her. Katara yelped and jumped back. The barrel shattered at her feet. 

Sokka's club collided with Smellerbee's dagger, blocking her attack and fending her off. The boy grunted and shoved her back, she was sent back a couple feet, her heels digging into the ground. 

As he turned around, he narrowly dodged an arrow, just barely grazing his face, leaving a slight cut on his right cheek. He frowned and shot his boomerang at the boy, knowing him in the head and rendering him unconscious! 

" _ AH-HA!"  _ Sokka cheered but his win was short lived as Smellerbee slashed her dagger in his direction. 

Katara continued to dive out of Pipsqueak's heavy handed attacks. He slammed his fists on the ground but she reeled back just in time, jerking her arms upright, a wave of water had came to her call from the river, encasing him in a prison of ice. Hey, it's the first time she's been able to do that on purpose!

Katara nearly laughed but was interrupted by the tiny body of The Duke jumping at her waist. 

" _ RAAAH!"  _ He growled up at her. Aw, he looked adorable 

Katara hesitantly trapped him in the icey trap, making sure not to hurt the young boy. 

"Uh,  _ Katara!  _ Little help!" Katara stopped her head around and was met with her brother sparring with the skilled blade master Smellerbee, while Longshot laid knocked out on the ground 

"On it!" Katara jumped forward, blasting Smellerbee and Longshot with frozen water, successfully trapping them along with the rest. 

The struggles and cries from the four, imprisoned children filled the air as the Water Tribe siblings stood there, panting and out of breath. 

" _ AUGH, LET US GO!"  _

_ "YEAH, IT'S FREEZING IN HERE!"  _

Holy, crap. Katara can't believe they just won against them. Are they… good fighters? No fucking way. She only wished Toph was here, she would have been so proud of- 

"Oh holy shit,  _ Toph!"  _ Katara turned to her brother, He was placing his club back behind his back, "She's with Jet! We have to tell her about his plan"

"Fuck, you're right!" Sokka smacked himself in the head, having completely forgotten about it along with his sister. He grabbed her arm and began running, leaving the Freedom Fighters there (the ice will melt eventually), "Come on! Let's go!"

________________

"HYYAAAAA!" Jet's screams echoed through the forest as he lunged for Toph

He raised his swords up and swung them down towards her, she blocked with her forearm, protecting her skin with a shield of rock. 

The boy jerked back and kicked her, to which she jumped back just in time. 

He came at Toph once again, this time a single sword held straight forward, planning to stab right through her but she slid her foot against the grass, causing the ground underneath Jet to spin him around and back into the opposite direction. 

She didn't want to hurt him and it was obvious, why else would she block and dodge all his blows? 

He struck her again, but her hands were encased in rock, she held his swords between her hands. He added more pressure to it, trying to wear her down and Toph grunted,  _ "I don't wanna fight you, Jet,"  _ She strained,  _ "But I will!" _

A cruel laugh escapes his throat, " _ HA!  _ I'd like to see you _ try!"  _ He jerked his swords back and hooked one of her ankles, yanking it towards him and causing her to fall 

_ "Oof!"  _ Toph landed on her back and felt a sword press to her throat

" _ You can't beat me"  _ He stared down at her

Toph sympathized with Jet but, 

That was fucking stupid. 

The Earthbender wrenched her leg upwards, causing a chunk of hard dirt to come flying out of the ground. It rammed Jet right in the chin. 

The boy flew backwards a couple feet from the impact, slamming him into a tree with a loud  _ THUD! _

He didn't move and Toph stood up, walking towards him, only slightly out of breath. 

" _ You don't understand"  _ He hissed, not moving 

The Avatar didn't speak, believing he had finally run out of fight left to give. 

_ "TOOOOOOOPPPPHH!"  _

Then Katara and Sokka came running up the hill, charging at her haistaly.

She spun her head to them and she heard Sokka shouted when they were close enough, "It's Jet! He was planning to flood an entire village!"

Her eyes widened and before she was able to turn around, she felt him jump to pounce her. 

Toph jerked around, slamming her foot to the grass with the might so strong the ground shook _,_ and in an instant, Jet's lower body was encased in rock. 

"They were gonna blow it up so the water in it that we filled into the river would flood the entire village" Sokka explained

"We were able to stop the Freedom Fighters there- we froze them to the reservoir," Katara said from behind the Avatar, "But Jet was the one who made the plan" 

" _ NO!"  _ Jet screamed, struggling against the rock, "LET ME OUTTA HERE!" 

Okay, stealing was one thing- but flooding an entire village? Because what? It was a Fire Nation colony? Because it had a couple Fire Nation soldiers? It's ludicrous. 

Maybe her dads deaths haven't completely sunken in. Maybe she was just a stupid kid who strongly believed in  _ innocent until proven guilty.  _ But Jet was wrong, no matter how hurt he could be, it wasn't right to endanger innocent peoples lives to strike revenge. 

Toph continued facing the boy, unmoving, "Hurting people who had nothing to do with what happened to you isn't right" 

"Augh!  _ Shut up!" _ His voice broke slightly, "You don't know what you're fucking talking about!" 

The boy who killed her parents was still out there and she was forced to face him  _ over and over again  _ because she was to meet their same fate. 

"Maybe I don't," Toph admitted, taking a step even closer to the teenager, "But you said to me you didn't care that I was the Avatar- that I shouldn't get blamed for what my past lives did because I had  _ no control  _ over it. What about that village? Those are innocent Fire Nation people that you wanna kill. They have no control over what their terrible,  _ terrible  _ government does. And I think we both know that. You," She paused, "You can't just hate someone  _ because  _ they're Fire Nation. It isn't right" 

That was a fact Toph was still teaching herself- not with Zuko (she knew she had every reason to not like him), but with the entire Fire Nation itself. The Firebender was the first thing she thinks of when she thought of the element and it nearly caused her to despise it because of that. But she can't. Just because one person from the Fire Nation is evil doesn't mean they all are.

Jet scoffed, his voice has been trembling the entire time and his heart rate skyrocketed as she stomped back on the ground, releasing him. 

He fell to the floor, falling on his knees, hands clutching clumps of grass. Sokka and Katara both jumped into position when she let him go but quickly simmered down when they realized he wasn't going anywhere. 

His eyes were watery and he trained his head downwards, not barring to face any of them, " _ How..?"  _ He began, still shaking, "How do I stop? How  _ can  _ I stop? How do I- how do I deal with every moment- feeling like they might kill everyone I love all over again?" He asked frantically, " _ How do I move on?" _

The boy- the  _ traumatized boy  _ finally broke down after holding it in for so long. He didn't always need to be strong, He was allowed to be scared or hurt or upset. He was still a  _ child _ just like her and Sokka and Katara. 

Toph sat down in front of him as he cried, not daring to touch him but close enough for him to know that she was here for his comfort, not pain, "A burn can scar but it never hurts as much as when you first got it," A proverb came from her mouth before she realized (she had a feeling Zuko's old Uncle would be proud), "I don't think anyone really moves on if something happened to them like what happened to you. It just gets easier to manage, figuring out why it hurt you and how you  _ and _ all the other people in your life can help you through it"

"Well," He looked up at her for the first time since he was released, wiping his eyes, "What did you do? What helped you?" 

"Support helps. Having people just listen to you when you talk about it goes  _ a long  _ way," Toph shrugged and smiled slightly, "Good thing I'm such an amazing listener- I could listen to you if you want" 

Jet nodded silently, and wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug. Toph returned it.

________________

The four of them ended up walking back to the hideout (after picking up Jet's freezing friends from back at the reservoir of course), with Toph and Jet walking far behind the rest, talking. 

Back at the hideout, the two retreated into one of the many rooms scattered about the trees. They didn't come out until four hours later. 

And through those four hours, Toph only spoke a handful of times, keeping her oath of listening. She only asked questions or words of commentary when necessary,  _ "how'd that happen?", "That's horrible, I'm sorry", "Do you think that's why?" _

And after they were done- after Jet told her everything he was willing to say, he felt…  _ lighter.  _ Mind you, he was still  _ deeply  _ traumatized and those memories and feelings won't go away with one talk but… He said it felt good to finally speak the things he's never allowed himself the time to think about. 

He's still a long way from changing his opinion on the Fire Nation or on Firebenders, but it's one step in the right direction. He was becoming willing to heal and that's way more than Toph could have asked for regarding him. 

When the trio's time was finally up and they were beginning to remount Wander, while Sokka and Katara cheerfully said their goodbyes to the new friends they've made, Toph went over to Jet. 

"It's gonna be okay- healing's hard," She said to him, "If I'm ever in the area again, I wouldn't mind listening to you again" 

He chuckled, "If the Earth Kingdom doesn't imprison you before then" 

"They like to  _ think _ they could catch me. I'm way too strong for that" 

" _ Sure _ ," He folded his arms, "But yeah, I'll take you up on that offer, I wouldn't mind talking again. I think I wanna try opening up more to people- I think I wanna try with Longshot and Smellerbee" 

Toph nodded in understanding, "I think that's a really good place to start. They love you a lot and wouldn't mind listening I'm sure- especially Longshot, he sounds like a great listener"

She heard Jet give a boyishly genuine laugh and it felt good to hear it, "Yeah thanks, Avatar"

Jet was going to be fine, she believed that with every cell in her being.

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't like how they treated Jet in the show, I think it was wrong of him to die, he was a CHILD!!!! I just dont think it was cool
> 
> I think Jet, like all characters deserves a chance to speak about what happened to him, be listened to and heal. How Jet went about coping with his hatred for the Fire Nation wasn't right, he was stealing from innocent people, people who didnt burn down his village when he was younger, people who had nothing to do with what happened to him. But instead of trying to lead him on the right path, they froze him to a tree and yelled at him a bit. I didnt think that was right, more so later when they literally killed him. It just rubs me the wrong way.
> 
> That's why I NEEDED to write this chapter, I NEEDED to give Jet some justice and a chance because everyone deserves one. 
> 
> So he isnt dying lmao 
> 
> Toph can give some pretty good advice and is an even better listener so I think it would be fitting to make her an awesome therapist. She also loves Jet asdfghjkl 
> 
> Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed!!!!! And make sure to check out thecursedavatar on Tumblr!


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